Hidden Pain
by Anjali Potter
Summary: Head Boy Draco Malfoy has started cutting himself as a solution to his stress and pain. Head Girl Hermione Granger finds out about his secret and her desire to help him forms. But danger arises as her simple desire grows into something more powerful.
1. Sleepless Nights

**Title:** Hidden Pain

**Author: **Anjali Potter

**Email: **R

**Warnings: **kisses, swearing

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Summary:**Head Boy Draco Malfoy has started cutting himself to relieve his depression.Head Girl Hermione Granger finds out about his secret and her desire to help him forms. What happens if her simple desire grows into something more powerful?

**Author's notes:** This is my first Hermione/Draco story. I have many types of them in mind but this is my first. Please review and tell me what you think of it. The story itself won't be very long but the chapters will be very long. This won't be but after this they will be averaging at least 10 pages. Give this story a chance please. It's 10 chapters long. I hope you guys enjoy it!

**Dedication: **My friend Priya. She is so sweet. She has helped me so much and I know that I can always count on her. She means so much to me.

**Hidden Pain**

_Chapter 1: Sleepless Nights_

The moon was shining outside the vicinity of Hogwarts. The breeze whipped the lawn like the rippling waves of the ocean. Millions of stars twinkled in the sky and light clouds drifted across the black sky. The castle stood huge and welcoming against the night sky. The lights were off and the atmosphere was pleasant. Students slept, shielded by their beds from everything but their nightmares. But in that castle, one student was awake waiting for sleep to overtake him.

A ray of moonlight was shining into the Head Boy's room and falling in a slanted line across his bed. The Head Boy however was fall from asleep. He groaned after hours of tossing and turning and turned so he was facing the window. Swallowing, he relaxed and shut his eyes. A few minutes later, his gray eyes opened again and cursed as the moonlight was shining in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and reached over to grab his clock knocking half his books off the dressing table. Reading the iridescent light, he discovered it was 4 o'clock in the morning.

Sighing, he replaced his clock and sat up. He reached over once more and grabbed his wand. Draco Malfoy, Head Boy of Hogwarts, slowly traced his wand idly with his long shapely fingers. His bleached blond hair fell in his forehead in thin strands. Clothed in just a pair of silver silk boxers, he sat in his bed, his legs stretched in front of him, the covers up to his waist.

Sleep was a time for students to forget about the day's events; to start the next day fresh and with a clean slate. It was a time to fall in a utopia where nothing horrible existed. But for Draco, it was his time of thinking. Ever since the summer, his sleepiness had fallen away. He would simply relieve the events of the day as he lay staring at the wall across from him.

Draco slowly replaced his wand back on his dresser and slowly reached under his bed. He pulled out his most prized possession; a silver handled knife, the only gift his father had given him. Draco grasped the handle and turned it this way and that watching the moonlight bounce off the smooth and sharp blade. Draco dragged a finger down the blade and smiled almost sadistically as a drop of blood appeared and slid down the length of the knife. He brought that finger to his mouth and sucked on it enjoying the feeling of pain rush throughout his body like fireworks.

But Draco had made his knife do more damage than a silly drop of blood. Oh yes, the blade had cut up a lot of flesh. Draco ran a finger over the other scars caused by his knife. He ran them over the numerous scars and cuts on his left forearms. Almost lovingly, almost smiling, he traced his second finger down yesterday's scab. It was fresh and hadn't healed yet. Of course, Draco could go up to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey on the pretense that his knife had slipped. Simply go to her one-day at a time. But what would the use in that? His cuts were a source of relieving his pain and anxieties.

Draco froze and listened around him making sure that the Head Girl was asleep. Yes, Mudblood Hermione Granger was fast asleep in her own room across the room from him. There would be no one to disturb him from stopping what he was about to do.

Draco slowly dragged the blade across his left forearm and relaxed at the knife left a thin scrape. Draco felt the same feeling of anger and uselessness rise up in him as he had felt all summer. Angrily, he slashed the knife across that same spot until a deep raw red cut had appeared. Cutting was the only way he could sleep.

Draco grasped his forearm as the blood slowly dripped from the cut onto his bed. Grabbing his wand, he slowly sealed his cut and left his to heal. With another flick of his wand, the dark stain vanished from the bed. With another tap, the blood vanished from the hilt of the knife which he then stowed it away carefully under his mattress. After replacing his wand, he snuggled deep into his sheets as if nothing could harm him; as if the blankets formed a blanket between him and the evils of his world. With the feeling of physical pain surrounding him, Draco finally fell asleep within ten minutes.

. & .

Draco moaned as the rays of sunshine hit him in the eye. Groaning, he rolled up breaking his protective layer and stretched his arms and legs. He then sat up his hair disheveled and glanced at his clock, which said 7:20.

"Great, I have 40 minutes in which I have to get ready, have breakfast, and escape that Mudblood," thought Draco swinging his legs over the bed.

Looking around his room, Draco spotted his silver and green towel and threw it around his head. He grabbed his clothes and opened his bedroom door cautiously. When he was sure that Granger was not around, he fully opened the door and let himself out.

Inspite of himself, the Heads Room was rather comfy. Next to his room was Hermione Granger's room. Across from Draco's room was the common bathroom. Draco physically shuddered at the thought; how could he share a bathroom with a Mudblood for a whole year? The thought made him shrivel up inside in disgust. Next to the door of the bathroom was an elaborately carved fireplace. Sofas and big armchairs surrounded the fire in a cozy arrangement.

Crossing the room, Draco let himself in the bathroom. The bathroom was rather nice, Draco admitted to himself. On the right wall was a very long counter made of dark green marble, which Draco highly approved of. Half belonged to Hermione and half belonged to Draco. Hermione's side was a selection of shampoos, conditioners, and random beauty products all neatly arranged. Draco half had only a few items: his hair gel, aftershave, shaving cream, and raser.

Across from him was a huge bathtub. Around the tub were assorted handles, which contained bubbles as big as footballs or simply warm water. Sighing Draco shut the door, threw his towel carelessly on a chair and filled the tub with lukewarm water. He found that after his first cut, hot water made his cuts unbearable to handle. After a few minutes, Draco stripped himself and lay down in the tub. Closing his eyes, he let the warm water wash over him removing his senses.

A few minutes however, Draco got up from the water and wrapped himself with his big fluffy towel. Rapidly, he dried himself and dressed himself in the Hogwarts uniform; black pants, a white shirt, tie, and his usual Slytherin robes over them. He squeezed some gel into his hands and rubbed it in his hair. Deliberately, he brushed them so they were hanging right above his eyes. With this look, he was almost or as popular with the girls as Harry. After adjusting his collar, Draco stepped out of the bathroom and the first thing he saw was Hermione.

Hermione was sitting at one of the table next to the bathroom reading the NEWT Potions book already. Rolling his eyes, Draco walked past her so he could tie his black shoes.

"Malfoy," said Hermione. Malfoy inwardly groaned and stopped.

"What is it?" he snapped.

Hermione looked taken aback. "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to tell you that you need to see him for the Head instructions. You have about 20 minutes left before classes start."

Hermione went back to reading her book. Still looking at the book, Hermione reached her hand out for the apple that was sitting on the corner of her desk. Draco smirked and silently bent forward and took the apple. He laughed silently as Hermione kept feeling around the desk.

"Looking for this," laughed Draco coldly playing with the apple.

"Malfoy, give it back," said Hermione unfeelingly holding her hand out.

"Malfoys take what they want,' said Draco serenely biting into the apple. He spit a piece at her hitting her in the face. Hermione's face went red and tried to avoid him.

"Malfoy just get out of my sight or I'm going to hex you," snapped Hermione after several unsuccessful attempts. Laughing to himself, he went into his room, put on his shoes, and left the Heads quarters. Taunting Granger was the best thing to do after a nice of little sleep and emotional trauma.

. & .

Draco pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. To his surprise, even though there were only 15 or so minutes left in breakfast, the Hall was surprisingly packed. He walked casually over to his usual spot at the Slytherin table but halfway backed out. He didn't want to put up with the stupid questions of Crabbe and Goyle and especially Pansy's annoying flirting. Instead, he walked to the teacher's table and stood in front of Professor Dumbledore. Beaming, Professor Dumbledore got up and bent across the table explaining to Draco the duties of being Head Boy; patrolling, looking out for suspicious activities, etc. Nodding dutifully, Draco turned around and walked swiftly out of the Great Hall not looking at anyone or anything.

Severus Snape, however, had been watching Draco since he entered the Great Hall. Why in the world had Draco stopped halfway to the Slytherin table and then backed out? Come to think of it, Draco looked rather ill. His eyes were cold and tired. But underneath Snape could see emotions swirling in a hazy depth. Dark circles were under his eyes and he wasn't walking with the usual air of confidence that he had possessed since the first day he set foot in the castle. Snape made a mental note in his head, keeping it for future reference.

Snape look of concern turned to a look of disgust as his eyes wandered over to the Gryffindor table. His lips pursed inwards as he saw Harry and Ginny practically glued together at the lips. Professor McGonaggal looked at Snape and then burst out laughing; Snape looked as if he had swallowed a lemon. Cursing, Snape looked down at his plate and shot an evil look at his colleague.

"What's wrong now Severus," said Professor McGonaggal quietly.

"It's Potter and Weasley," snarled Snape. "Don't they have better things to do in the eating hall?"

Professor McGonaggal looked towards the Gryffindor table and saw what Snape was complaining about.

"He's just like his father," sneered Snape, "He also threw his weight around too much."

"Severus," interrupted Professor McGonaggal, "Harry is nothing like his father. You've seen him for 6 years and yet you think he's like James? Harry had the looks but his attitude has gone completely on Lily. Do you see him showing off in the Quidditch field or hexing random Slytherins? Severus, it's time to let the past go. You will never be able to overcome your feelings for James but don't carry them to Harry. I should have said this to you 6 years ago, when he set foot here. But it's still not too late."

Severus stared at his plate nonplussed. Sipping his coffee he thought about what Professor McGonaggal had just said. And even though he would never admit it, what she had just told him was absolutely right.


	2. Letters

**Hidden Pain**

_Chapter 2: Loads of Letters_

Draco yawned as he entered his Potions class but he quickly stifled it with his hand. He wanted nothing more than to go to his room, crawl in bed, and go to sleep. Sighing, he dumped his bag on the desk next to Goyle and slumped down in his seat. Today had been a hard day; McGonaggal had taught them a new charm and wanted them to write a 3-foot essay on its affects and importance. On top of that, Flitwick had assigned them a research project on a particular spell. Finally Potions had arrived; at least that would be an easy class.

As soon as Snape strode in, the class went silent. Gryffindors quieted immediately not wanting to lose points of the first day of school. Snape walked swiftly to the front of the class and turned around when he reached his desk.

"As you all know, this is a NEWT Potions class. Any silly or foolish behavior will be taken to your Head of House at once. This is an extremely arduous and tedious class. If you feel that you cannot put up with the stress then I suggest that you transfer," said Snape silkily.

"So, the first order of business is to see who can name these potions," said Snape throwing the cover off a set of vials. Each vial had some potion bubbling in it. "You shall be studying the effects and properties of these 4 potions until Christmas."

"Who can tell me what these 4 vials contain," said Snape pointing a long finger at the first vial.

Naturally, Hermione's hand was the first to go up. Rolling his eyes, Draco blew out his breath.

"The first vial is Veritaserum. It's the most powerful truth potion in the world," said Hermione dutifully.

Draco opened his bag and took out his parchment and quill. What would his dear father say if he found out that his dear son was falling behind in his classes? That would be another case that deserved a suitable punishment. The thought of his father made his blood boil. Automatically, his blood was asking for the knife and his body was aching for the feeling of pain. Forcibly, he pushed his thoughts out of his mind as he obediently copied down the notes.

"The second vial contains Polyjuice Potion," said Hermione. A blush rose to her cheeks as she recalled her second year. Next to her Harry and Ron were covering their laughter with a hacking cough. "The Polyjuice Potion is used if one wants to transform into another person. However, it's only effective for an hour per dose."

"The third vial had Amortentia. It's the most powerful love potion. There are antidotes but the use of this is strictly prohibited unless needed most urgently."

"And the last is Felix Felicis. It's called the Lucky potion for short. Just a small drop will make your day go perfectly," finished Hermione.

Snape stared at Hermione for a second.

"Very good Miss Granger. Rather remarkable even if I say so myself. Take 15 points to Gryffindor," said Snape coolly. Hermione blinked her eyes and shook her head slightly as if she misunderstood what Professor Snape had said.

Draco glared malevolently at Hermione, feeling as if he had been punched in the stomach. Sneering, he turned back to his notes.

"The first potion, you and the partner that I assign will need to brew will be the Veritaserum. Along with it, you will need to write a brief report describing the affects, the steps needed to make it, the benefits, the drawbacks, etc. In this 2-hour class, I expect you to have concocted a reasonably powerful truth potion," instructed Snape.

As Snape looked around the room, surveying the class, he noticed that all the Slytherins were on the left side of the room while all the Gryffindors were on the right side of the room.

"I have your groups assigned,' said Snape whipping out a piece of parchment.

"Silence," he snapped his black eyes glittering as the class groaned.

"Mr. Potter and Miss. Scotts," he started. "Mr. Potter please move next to Miss Scotts."

Harry, who wasn't grumbling, gathered his articles and moved next to Sierra Scotts. Sierra was one of the few Slytherins who didn't delight in ridiculing Gryffindors. It was widely known that she had a huge crush on Harry. Sierra had long flowing blond hair up to her shoulder blades and big baby blue eyes. Smiling briefly, Harry put his stuff down and sat next to her.

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Goyle," said Snape smirking.

Cursing under his breath, Ron sat next to Crabbe but sat himself as far away as possible. Draco sat in his barely able to control his laughter. All throughout the pairs, he found it increasingly harder to contain his laughter. Then he heard something that made his laughter die immediately.

"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger," announced Snape, folding his parchment.

Draco felt as if someone had punched him. Him and the Mudblood? Him and Miss-know-it-all? He must be dreaming.

"Um, excuse me professor," said Draco raising his hand, "for a second it sounded as if I was paired with Granger."

"You are," said Snape silkily.

Draco stared at his desk in shock. He blinked a couple of times and then shook his head lightly.

"Mr. Malfoy, it might be more productive if you moved over there next to Miss Granger," said Snape silkily. Draco opened his mouth to argue but as his professor stared at him dangerously, he quickly picked up his stuff and reluctantly sat next to Hermione.

Narrowing his eyes, Draco stared as Snape waved his hand causally at the blackboard. Immediately instructions appeared upon the board behind him. Draco huffed as he saw Hermione sit up primly in her seat looking at Professor Snape earnestly. God, she annoyed him so much. Just her presence, the air of perfection that she gave off annoyed him to no end. How was he going to survive with her next to him annoying him to no end for 2 hours?

"Follow these instructions very carefully. Even the smallest addition can turn it into a lethal poison. I'd rather you use less than more. If you use less, only the strength will be affected. Not the potion itself. The ingredients will be found in the usual place. You have two hours. The report will be due next week," said Snape.

With a swish of his robes, he sat behind his desk surveying his class carefully. As rude and cold he had been towards his classes, he did care about his students, even the Gryffindors, and made sure that life-threatening dangers did not happen. As he sat, his eyes fell upon Potter. As usual, whenever he laid eyes on Harry a flow of hatred rushed through his body. Every time he laid eyes of Harry, James came to his mind. And along with it, hatred and venom. Minerva's comment that she said at breakfast wafted into his head, "Harry is not his father." He would never tell her this but she was right. Harry wasn't his father and he had treated Harry the way he wanted to treat James. But maybe it wasn't late to act civilly. He had no intention of being overly chummy, but maybe he could be as nice as his other professors.

"Malfoy," asked Hermione, "would you rather light the fire and get the cauldron or get the ingredients?"

Draco just leaned back in his chair and surveyed the class who were busily getting the ingredients and preparing their cauldron. Soon, only Hermione and Draco were the only ones in their seats.

"Malfoy," growled Hermione, "which one do you want to do?"

"Malfoys don't work. You bring everything and then we'll see what has to be done," said Draco arrogantly.

"Well in here you will work," snapped Hermione. Her face was turning crimson. "I don't care if you're a Malfoy or not. If you don't help me, I will bloody curse you into next week!"

"Oh, did Miss Perfect just say bloody? I must be hanging around you too much," drawled Draco. He lazily got up and went to get a cauldron.

"The nerve of him," muttered Hermione running to the cabinet. After gathering all the necessary ingredients, she returned to her table where Draco was lounging around and looking through her backpack.

"Malfoy," screeched Hermione carelessly dropping the ingredients on the desk. "How dare you look through my backpack? Don't you have any sense of respect?"

"I don't give respect. I need respect. Especially from Mudbloods like you" drawled Draco still looking through her backpack.

Hermione blinked as Draco lashed out at her. Stunned, she could only stare at him taken aback. Sure he had called her that many times, but she never thought he'd say it in front of a teacher. Sneering, he got up and started reading the instructions on the blackboard. Not to be undaunted, Hermione quickly snapped out of her shock, blinked back her tears, and started making the potion.

. & .

Two hours later, after a lot of fighting and name-calling, Hermione and Draco finally finished their potion. After they were done, both turned away from each other and did their own activities.

"Ok, there are 15 minutes before class ends. Your potions should be in its final stage. I am going to come around and choose the 3 best ones. The best will go into my personal safe for usage in the future," said Snape standing up.

Slowly Snape went around the classroom, students looking at him hopefully for any sign of approvement. However, as usual, Snape's face remained emotionless as usual. Until he reached Hermione and Draco's sample; his eyebrows rose and he nodded very slightly.

"Everyone return to their seats," said Snape coldly. "The overall quality was poor. However, because this is such a difficult potion, one of the most difficult, the sample that will be graded will be after the paper is due. There were 3 that were passable."

Snape walked over to Pansy's and Dean Thomas'. "This is a very weak truth potion but nonetheless, it will serve a decent purpose. They didn't put much of the ingredients but have done a passable job."

Next Snape walked over to Harry and Sierra. "This is a very good truth potion. It is not the most powerful potion concocted but it has the tenacity that the Ministry likes to use."

Snape nodded to Harry, who was looking as if Snape had grown 3 heads. "Excellent job Mr. Potter, Ms. Scotts, take 15 points each."

Harry grinned as Snape passed by. He was in complete shock; Snape had never lauded his work let alone give him points. Shrugging, he smiled at Sierra as Snape walked over to Hermione and Draco's cauldron.

"This is superb. This potion is the most powerful that can be made by a wizard. This is the best trial that has come in all my NEWT classes. Excellent, simply excellent Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy. Take 20 points each. Miss Granger, go over to that cabinet and take out the biggest flash available and fill it to capacity," said Snape.

Hermione flushed and practically bouncing with excitement, ran to the cabinet and did as Snape told. Draco rolled his eyes.

"For your reports, I want a very detailed research on Veritaserum. It should be 5 feet long. The partners that you worked with today shall be your partners for this project and for the rest for the year," said Snape coolly.

Hermione gasped in shock and Draco's mouth fell open. He had to be dreaming. The bell rang and Hermione was out of her seat, pursing her lips unhappily. Draco got up, kicked the leg of the desk, and walked in a fury up to Snape's desk. He had half a mind to tell Snape what he thought of his arrangement. But as he walked up, Snape looked up and shook his head.

"I know what you are going to say Mr. Malfoy. But I am not changing any pairs," said Snape coldly.

Draco threw his hands up in the air. What was wrong with the world? Cursing, he turned his back of his favorite professor and after grabbing his bag, left for the library. He needed to get at least one essay done before he crashed.

. & .

Four hours later, at 8 o'clock, an exhausted Draco climbed through the door to the Head's Room. He had just spent four hours in the library writing his two essays for class. He dropped his bag next to the door. He needed to sleep before he cracked. His eyes half-closed he staggered into the common room and leaned against one of the couches.

"Malfoy," started Hermione coldly.

"I'm not in the mood for it Granger," snapped Draco walking haphazardly towards his room.

"I just wanted to say that there's an hour before we have to go patrol the corridors," said Hermione stonily.

"Yeah whatever. Wake me up in 59 minutes," said Draco too tired to care.

He opened the door to his room and closed it collapsing on the opposite side. Then he saw something that drove all his sleepiness out the window. Something that caused his eyes to open wide with surprise, shock and something like fear. He froze against the doorframe for a moment, staring in horror. Sitting on his dresser was a letter. It was stamped with a green stamp, which had the letters LM stamped on it. It could only be from one person.

Scrambling up Draco grabbed the letter. His heart beating fast, his fingers quickly opened the folded letter.

_Draco,_

_I know that you remember our conversation in the beginning of the year. You recall that I have spoken with his "Majesty" about some projects that you can work for him. Tell me when your first meeting is after Christmas's Hogsmeade and I will work things out. I know that you will happy to serve him. _

_Lucius_

Draco crumpled the letter and yelled in anger. The line was killing him. That exactly what hurt; his father knew absolutely nothing about him. Every single line was an order that was implicitly stated. And where did that leave him to feel what he wanted or to do as he liked? Where did that leave room for his desires? His wishes? Breathless, he pulled out his silver handled knife and brutally dragged it across his left arm. Sliding down the door, he held his arm and reached for his wand. Sighing, his eyes closed he felt his heartbeat slow down and peace slowly take over momentarily before sealing the cut.

Draco then staggered over to his bed and collapsed on the sheets. His eyelids slowly flickered shut as sleep took over. It was like this that Hermione found Draco an hour later.

"Malfoy," said Hermione prodding Draco.

Draco simply pushed her hand off and continued to sleep. Hermione sighed and blew her breath out.

"Malfoy," she screamed. Draco yelped and sat up.

"You," he snarled. "What the hell do you want?"

" We have to go patrolling right now," yelled Hermione. "I told you that an hour ago. It's going to be nine o'clock now. And by the way, there's something red near the door. Is that some juice or something?"

Draco blanched and panicked for a second. Some of the blood must have fallen to the carpet before he sealed it. Fortunately for him, the thought went away from Hermione's mind as quickly as it had entered. Draco groaned and swung his legs over the bed. Hermione was tapping her foot, crossing her arms looking at him reproachfully as she waited by the door.

"I'm coming ok," he snarled. "Can you please get your Mudblood body out of my room."

Hermione blinked at him. "Fine," she said coolly, "I'll be outside the dorm."

Draco swore as Hermione left. For the first time, he had gotten a dreamless sleep. And Mudblood Granger had ruined it as usual. He slowly got up and tried smoothing his overly wrinkled clothes. Swearing, he left it and went to meet Hermione outside.

. & .

"Finally," snapped Hermione. "It's only been the first day of duty and you're already trying to bail out. Why are you so tired anyways? Did you not sleep last night? What were you doing?"

"It's none of your business what I do or when?" snapped Draco. He internally groaned and rubbed his hand against his head. His head was killing him. On top of that he had to spend an hour with this Mudblood next to him.

"It is important especially if it's going to get in the way of the duties that you agreed it," retaliated Hermione.

The pair was walking down a dark deserted corridor. It seemed that students were in their dormitories busy with homework or other activities.

"Granger," said Draco after 45 minutes of idle walking, "this is boring the bloody crap out of me. There's nothing interesting today. There aren't any snogging brainless idiots to catch. I'm going to go back."

"You will do nothing of the sort," yelled Hermione. "You agreed to this when you became Head Boy. You are nothing but a lazy, good for nothing arrogant man."

"You are nothing but a filthy Mudblood who thinks she knows everything," yelled Draco.

"At least I'm not going to become a Death Eater like you," hissed Hermione. She started to turn around in a fury when a hand pulled her roughly back. The next she knew she had been pulled to face Draco and was staring in his eyes.

"Don't even think about talking about things that you don't even know about," hissed Draco.

Hermione was at a loss for words. His eyes were burning with anger and looked dangerous. But behind the anger Hermione could see pain and hurt. Pain and hurt? She never thought that a Malfoy could feel those emotions. Draco pushed her away roughly and stormed up the halls leaving Hermione behind staring behind him shock etched upon her face.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews. Next chapter will be updated soon. _


	3. The Tutor

**Hidden Pain**

_Chapter 3: The Unwanted Tutor_

After that argument between Draco and Hermione, conversation ceased between the two over the next weeks. The only time they spoke was when Draco needed someone to make fun of or for their Potions projects. He would unleash his anger through his words, throwing the words like a long rope of fire. Patrolling became a mere walk where the two of them walked side by side simply keeping an eye out for intruders or suspicious activities.

Draco was furious at himself. He couldn't believe that he let the comment that the Mudblood shot at him hurt his pride so much. He never knew that was the impression that he gave other people. Sure he was cold, rude, a jerk, and an asshole but he could never kill someone for fun. It hurt to know that people saw him as a miniature version of his father.

Overtime, throughout the weeks Draco had been slowly slipping. His grades in Transfiguration and Charms were slowly falling. His nights were full of memories of his father and self-abuse. He was falling behind; forgetting to turn in and do his homework and attending Quidditch practice. He would often fall asleep in his Charms or Transfiguration classes from lack of sleep causing him to slowly fall behind in his studies. His mood and his apprehension towards his meeting in the spring were slowly breaking him down. He didn't and knew he couldn't tell his father "no." He was falling slowly and painfully. And there was no one to pick up the pieces or help him stand up.

. & .

"All right class, there are 10 minutes left in the class," said Professor Flitwick from the front of the room. "I need the essay on Transfixing spells."

He waved his wand and almost immediately 49 pieces of parchment came flying towards Professor Flitwick and then stopped about an inch or two away allowing him to gather them. The class waited patiently as he counted them and placed them in his drawer.

"Mr. Malfoy, I am missing your essay. Did you forget it in your room?" asked Professor Flitwick sternly.

Draco jerked his head off the table and blearily rubbed his eyes. Groaning internally, he rubbed his head in his hands. He had forgotten that there was an essay due today. Sighing, he nodded no.

"Mr. Malfoy, please meet me after class," said Professor Flitwick staring at Draco not angrily but with concern.

Draco nodded, too tired to care, and too tired to feel anything. He wanted out; he had never felt so helpless as he did now. The bell rang, causing the orderly line of students in the class to form a shapeless mass as they ran to lunch. But Draco stayed behind waiting for everyone to leave so he could speak to Professor Flitwick. Finally, when the room was empty he tiredly trudged up to his desk. The Professor put down his quill and stared at Draco expectantly.

"Mr. Malfoy, this is the 3rd essay that you have not turned in," said Professor Flitwick. "Is there something going on in your life that is preventing you from turning in these essays."

"No sir," said Draco tiredly.

"Ok," said his professor though he looked suspicious. "You have fallen behind over the past month. I am assigning you a tutor who will help you get back on your feet in this class."

"Who is it?" asked Draco warily.

"It is Miss Granger," said Professor Flitwick.

Draco's eyes widened and he clutched the desk as he nearly fell over. "Professor, I really think it would be best if I got the student who's doing the best in this class."

Professor Flitwick lips switched upwards when he heard that. 'I don't think so Mr. Malfoy."

"Why?' said Draco fixing him with a stare.

"Because it's Mr. Potter," said Professor Flitwick trying to keep his laughter hidden as Draco blanched and shook his head.

"Never mind that. But why Granger," said Draco quickly.

"Because it will be very convenient with your schedule. You guys live in the same quarters therefore it will much easier to work together. Incidentally, she is second in this class. Miss Granger and I have suggested that you relearn what you have missed over the last month. I will give you time Mr. Malfoy to catch up. I won't need the essays but I will need approvement from Miss Granger that you have mastered the spell. But you will need to make an effort," said Professor Flitwick staring over Draco over the pile of papers

"No one else knows about this right?" said Draco anxiously.

"No, we have not told your mother or father. However by Christmas if you have not improved then I will have to alert him," said professor McGonaggal.

"NO!" said Draco hotly his eyes full of worry. 'I mean, it won't be necessary Professor. I can handle it myself. He has a lot of work at the Ministry right now."

"Ok Mr. Malfoy. That is all," said Professor Flitwick.

Draco grabbed his bag and left the classroom hating the turn his life had just taken. But he had no choice but to put with it; "just like everything else in my life" he thought bitterly. If his father had found out that Granger was tutoring him, he would be flayed an inch from his life.

Professor Flitwick was musing over his coffee as Draco left. There was something different about that boy this year. He wasn't walking with usual air of confidence and arrogance that he had always possessed. When he mentioned his father, he could see fear present in his eyes. He could remember Lucius when he was at Hogwarts. He had always been obsessed with power and brutal. He had seen the way he treated the weaklings of his own house and it wasn't pretty. He could only hope that he wasn't doing the same thing to Draco. His eyes were sagging and tired; something was preventing him from getting enough sleep. Something was troubling him but he would never tell. No matter what rough times a Malfoy was going through, they would not give a sign of weakness.

. & .

"Hey Hermione," said Ron after swallowing a huge forkful of mashed potatoes.

Hermione daintily swallowed her forkful and looked at Ron expectantly.

"Why did Flitwick talk to you for 10 minutes during the class?" asked Ron curiously.

"Oh, well," stammered Hermione. "Mr. Flitwick wanted me to help him with this project that he has in mind." She knew that Ron would throw a fit if he heard that she was tutoring Malfoy.

"Oh," said Harry curiously after he kissed Ginny, "what's this project?"

"I have to help Malfoy with Charms," muttered Hermione looking very interested in her plate.

"Say that again slowly," said Ron turning around, "It sounded like you have to help Malfoy."

"That's what I said," said Hermione turning to face Ron.

"What! Why?" yelled Ron knocking a pitcher of pumpkin juice over. "Is Flitwick out of his mind? He knows that Malfoy is a jerk to you? And you guys can't stand each other for more than 2 minutes?"

"It'll be ok Ron," said Hermione steadily "Believe me."

"Ok," said Ron slowly though he didn't look too sure. "But if he does anything let me know."

"Oh please Ron," grimaced Ginny from where she was snuggled up to Harry, "Hermione knows how to take care of herself."

Harry, Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and started laughing as Ron started mumbling to himself. It was too funny.

. & .

Tiredly, Draco entered the Heads' room and put his bag next to the door. He had managed to cram in 2 hours of sleep between his Potions class and his homework. He saw Granger sitting at the wooden table next to the window writing an essay. Clapping a hand to his head, he groaned; he had forgotten that he was going to get tutored by her.

Hearing his groan, Hermione looked up. "Um Malfoy, are you ok? I have medicine for headaches," said Hermione timidly.

"No, I do not a headache. The fact that I have to be tutored by you is my headache. Why do you care anyways," snapped Malfoy heading for his room.

"Malfoy, I think that if you're done with tonight's homework, then maybe I could teach you one spell," said Hermione timidly.

Draco paused with his hand on his doorknob and thought for a moment.

"That will be fine," he said shortly. "I have to change. I'll be there in 5 minutes."

Hermione smiled as she carefully out aside her essay, quills, and bottle of ink. She opened her book to the page showing the Transfixing spell. A few minutes later, Draco came out of his room in a loose black long sleeved shirt and green boxers.

"Oh Malfoy," snapped Hermione, "Can't you put pants over that?"

"No I can't," snapped Draco back sitting down on the side next to her. "Can we please start so I can get over with this?"

"Ok," said Hermione. "You're behind 3 spells; Transfixing, Manipulating, and the Accio. They are rather hard spells but you have a month. The thing is that there are going to be spells for class that you will need to memorize and master as well. I asked Professor Flitwick how many other spells before Christmas and he said 3 more. It's the beginning of November right now; you have till the beginning of December. To tell to the truth, I think that you will be able to master each spell within 2 to 3 days."

"Really," said Draco furrowing his eyebrows.

"It took Ron 2 days," said Hermione laughing.

Draco chuckled for the first time in a while. "What spell are you going to teach me first?"

"Well the Transfixing is the hardest," said Hermione seriously. "I think we should do that first. Get the hardest done."

"Fine. Sooner the better," groaned Draco.

"Ok first, the transfixing spell is a spell that is used during battles mostly. You use it to stun or make a person's mind fixed on one particular object. But it is much much more powerful. However, unlike stunning spells, this is a permanent charm. Unless the counter curse is performed upon the victim, he or she will permanently remain in that position. The spell is called _traxia_. Unlike the stunning spell, you must wave your wand in such a way that it encompasses the victim's entire body. You need to start from the top and work until the bottom. It's a very unpredictable charm; it depends on the person's height. The taller the person, the more force and energy is needed. The shorter the person is, the less force and energy is needed. The counter curse is _Detraxia._"

"Ok, ok, enough of the background," growled Draco. "Can we get on with the actual spell?"

Hermione simply ignored him. "I think I should perform it on you first so you can see it. I know how to do the counter curse so I won't have to drag you to the infirmary."

Draco snorted. "Well that's good. I wouldn't want to be seen with you in public. But I'm warning you that if you mess up then I make your last year here hell," said Draco viciously standing up.

"Ok, " said Hermione standing in front of him unfazed by his threat. She raised her wand near the top of his head and as she brought it in a swirl, she shouted "Traxia."

Immediately Draco felt himself close up. His eyes became fixed on the necklace around Hermione's neck. It was a single diamond on a silver chain. Whenever Hermione moved, his gaze would follow it. He couldn't feel anything; the only thing in his mind was the diamond. He felt lightheaded and there was nothing to worry about.

"Detraxia," muttered Hermione waving her wand again. Automatically, everything came back to Draco; the lessons, homework, his father.

"Ok, you need to wave your wand like this," instructed Hermione placing her small hand on top of Draco's. Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust but Hermione didn't seem to notice as she brought his hand down from her head down to her feet and then in a straight line across her feet.

"You do the same thing for the counter curse," said Hermione as she positioned herself in front of Draco. "The tighter and faster you move your wand, the more powerful the transfixion. If it's powerful, there should be nothing in the victim's mind but the object. Go ahead."

"On you?" said Draco surprised. "What if I mess up?"

"Well then you can go and find Harry or Ron or someone in our class," snapped Hermione as if it was obvious.

Draco made a mean face at Hermione as he raised his wand. Bringing down the wand and yelling the incantation, Hermione found herself transfixed to Draco's eyes. As she stared into them, she could feel herself drowning. But she sighed; the power wasn't strong enough. Draco did the same movement and she felt the counter curse work.

"Ok Malfoy, that was really good for your first try," said Hermione. "You need to simply move your wand faster. You have the counter curse down. All you have to work on now is the ability to drawn your victim in. To make them think of nothing but the object. I was transfixed but I could remember things like my homework, and the fact why you were hexing me."

"Ok Ms. Perfect," grumbled Draco.

"I'm just trying to help," snapped Hermione. "We've done about 45 minutes today. Tomorrow we'll simply just keep practicing the spell. Luckily, we didn't get Charms homework today."

Hermione sat down and turned back to her essay as Draco stowed his wand in his pocket and walked away.

This was going to be a nightmare.

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_A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed. I appreciate it. I know it seems weird that Harry of all people is on top but he needed to be on top. Hope you keep on reading. _


	4. Finding Out

**Hidden Pain  
**

_Chapter 4: Finding Out _

Steadily, Draco caught up in Charms. Every other day, Draco and Hermione slowly progressed and perfected his skills. But his depression continued as his father pressured him more and more. Hermione and Draco's relationship remained at the same state that it was 7 years ago. They only talked when needed and associated with each other at the minimum level.

. & .

"Ok class, today you will finish preparing the sample of Polyjuice Potion that you started 2 weeks ago. As usual, the materials are in the cupboard," said Snape emotionlessly. Waving his hand, the instructions appeared on the board.

"Malfoy, get the cauldron," ordered Hermione.

"Don't order me Granger. Learn to respect those who are higher up than you," spat Draco.

"Fine please get the cauldron," yelled Hermione. She didn't have the energy to fight with Draco in Potions.

Smirking Draco got up and retrieved the cauldron. Fuming Hermione rearranged the ingredients in the order of which they would be used. Having already prepared this particular potion, it was little difficulty for Hermione. Soon, the class was at work putting the final touches on the potion.

"I wonder that if I drank some of this potion I could become you," sneered Draco staring revoltingly at the liquid inside the cauldron. He shuddered.

Ignoring his comment, Hermione said scathingly, "You need a hair of the person you want to turn into. "

"Oh, and how does Miss Perfect know this?" mocked Draco.

"I know because in my second year, I" stopped Hermione. Flushing, she turned away from Draco and suddenly became very interested in her nails.

"Oh, did Miss Perfect here make this and turn into someone? Were you jealous that someone hadn't snogged you? Did you change into someone who was getting attention," mocked Draco.

Hermione flushed but didn't try to straighten his distorted version of the story. She couldn't tell him that she had used to the potion to spy on him. For all she knew, Draco would go complain to Snape.

"No," she said in mock sweetness, "but if you don't shut up, I will force some of this down your throat which contains Goyle's hair."

Draco's eyes widened and his smirk quickly vanished. He sneered as he slowly pulled the sleeve of his left arm up to itch his arm. That's when Hermione saw it; 3 thin long deep cuts that hadn't healed yet.

Hermione's eyes widened as she saw the marks. Had that been an accident?

"Malfoy, you hurt your arm," she said casually. Draco looked down alarmed and quickly pushed the cloth back over the marks.

"Yeah, I uh must have hurt myself unknowingly. I'll visit Madam Pomfrey later," stammered Draco.

"They looked fresh," said Hermione uncertainly, "Maybe you should go now."

"I will," snapped Draco, "Why do you give a damn anyways?"

Hermione didn't say anything. She had never seen Draco look so uncomfortable in her life at Hogwarts. The cuts looked too perfect to be an accident. With a jolt, she remembered the red stain near the door a month ago. Was that not juice but his blood? Was Malfoy cutting himself? And if he was then why? There was the fact that he was falling behind in his classes; maybe that was causing him to cut himself. But that was unlike Malfoy; in the past when he was dropping he simply worked harder himself. There must be something horrible if he's resorting to such measures.

Hermione bit her lip as she stared at the desk. She didn't have any proof. The only thing she could do would be to keep a really close eye on Draco when he was in the Heads' room. Maybe she could catch him in the act or find a clue or two that would explain if he was harming himself.

For the rest of the class, Hermione simply sat in her seat musing over what she had seen. Draco wandered around the class harassing random Gryffindors and talking to Crabbe and Goyle. An argument between Harry and Draco caused a whole cauldron to fall over drenching half the class with the potion in the process. As a result, both Harry and Draco received detention with Snape. At the end of class Hermione dutifully delivered a flask of the potion to Snape and then left with Harry and Ron.

. & .

"Hey Hermione," said Ron as they climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. "Why were you so preoccupied today during Potions?"

"I just had something on my mind," said Hermione her cheeks turning pink.

"Caputnis," said Harry to the Fat Lady.

"Oh, it feels so great to be here," sighed Hermione throwing herself into the armchair next to the fire.

"Yeah, we've missed you," said Harry. "We haven't had much time to talk with Quidditch practices."

"I'll say," grumbled Ron. "He keeps us out there for freaking 4 hours."

"And on top of that you have Head Duties," continued Harry ignoring Ron.

"I'll say," muttered Ron. "Especially with that Ferret you have to work with."

"And then, there's the whole boyfriend reputation I have to keep up," finished Harry.

"I'll say," started Ron.

"I think you've said enough," said Ginny coming behind Harry.

Ginny leaned over and kissed Harry sweetly on the lips. Harry pulled her so she was sitting on his lap. Ginny blushed as Harry pulled her close to him. Ginny tangled her fingers in his hair. Ron grimaced and turned his head away as his sister and best friend slowly started kissing. It started innocent but soon Ron was getting quite red.

"I think you understand now why I really need you here," said Ron turning red. "Anyways how's life with Malfoy that Ferret?"

"MALFOY!" shouted Hermione standing up. She quickly gathered her bag and supplies and started walking towards the portrait.

"Where are you going Hermione?" asked Ron practically yelling. "Why did the name of that Ferret shake you up?"

"I just uh remembered that um we have an uh um a tutoring lesson now," said Hermione smiling sweetly trying to cover up her bluff.

Before Ron could say another word however, Hermione had left the common room. Frowning to himself, Ron turned back to facing the fireplace. It was all very confusing.

"Hey Harry," said Ron, staring into the fire. "HARRY!"

Harry broke apart glaring at Ron.

"What is it?" he huffed angrily.

"Hermione just left. And that too because I mentioned Malfoy. She was acting very strange. She told me that they had a tutoring session."

Harry furrowed his brows wrinkling his forehead in the process. "But that can't be right; the Slytherins have Quidditch practice right now. Me and the idiotic Slytherin captain were fighting over the pitch."

"That means she lied," said Ron turning back to the fire. "But why would she? Is there something going one between Hermione and Malfoy? What do you think Harry? Harry?"

But when he turned around he let out a groan; Harry and Ginny were at it again. Burying his head in his hands, he huffed. There was something mysterious happening with Hermione and Ron was determined to get to the bottom of it. With or with out Harry's help.

. & .

Hermione practically ran to the Heads room. Breathing hard, she looked around the common room but found no one there. "Draco must doing homework in the library or is at Quidditch practice," she thought. "I might as well start my homework so I can help Malfoy with his later if necessary."

Slowly, the hours passed by but there was no sign of Draco. Hermione steadily moved through her homework, had dinner at the Great Hall, and finished her book when Draco finally walked through the doors. Hermione looked at him and nearly choked; he looked horrible. His eyes were sagging, his lips were turned down, and his clothes were beyond horribly wrinkled.

"Look Granger," said Draco emotionlessly, "I can't get tutored today. I actually went to Quidditch practice today and did a pile of homework."

Hermione simply stared as he went into his room and shut the door; he didn't come out for the rest of the evening. What did he mean by actually? Had he been bailing out on previous practices? This wasn't the Malfoy that she had "known" for several years.

She spent the rest of the evening musing over the incidents of the day but when night came she hadn't made much progress. Sighing she left her book on the side table and went to bed; maybe she would have a breakthrough tomorrow.

. & .

The next morning Hermione stood in the shower, letting the warm water wash over her. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it," called Hermione.

"Who else could it be?" snapped Malfoy's voice irritably.

"What do you want?" asked Hermione.

"I need to get some medicine from my side," snarled Draco. "Hurry up."

"Can't you go to Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione pleadingly.

"No I can't," said Draco. "Now get out."

Hermione groaned and grabbed her lavender towel from the rack. Wrapping it firmly around herself, she shut the water and opened the door. Draco stood in front of her holding his left arm out. A deep cut that was bleeding profusely caused Hermione to gasp.

"Can you please move?' snarled Draco.

He then rushed over to the sink and went it under the water. But it wasn't doing anything; the blood kept coming.

"Here," said Hermione unable to stand it any longer.

She walked over still in her towel, her wet hair falling around her shoulder, and grasped Draco's arm. She went over to her side of the bathroom and took out a Muggle antiseptic kit. She first sealed his cut with her wand and then dabbed the cut with antiseptic causing Draco to curse. She then applied some medicine.

"There," said Hermione softly. She started to pull up his sleeve inconspicuously. Maybe she would be able to see if there were many more cuts. But Draco pulled his arm away and examined the cut.

"Well uh thanks," said Draco. It was obviously hard for him to say that. He then swept from the bathroom Hermione looking after him.

As Hermione went to her room and dressed, she thought about what she just had seen. He had been very reluctant to see Madam Pomfrey. Was that because there were more scars under the sleeve? He had snatched his arm away when she tried pulling his sleeve higher.

. & .

Draco cursed as he entered the Heads' room hours after classes. He knew that Hermione was up to something. Why else had she tried to push his sleeve up? He knew that she suspected something after she saw the cuts yesterday in Potions. If only he had twisted his arm away from her viewpoint; he should have known that she would have been nosy. He'd have to be more careful.

Yawning, he entered his room. Glancing at the clock, he saw that he only had about 5 minutes before he needed to go patrolling. He lifted his sleeve and looked at his cut. It was still fresh but after the treatment Hermione had given him, it had started healing. This was his biggest cut yet. Around it were small and some large cuts.

He heard the door open and quickly looked around the room making sure that there were no signs of blood or his knife. He then opened the door and saw Hermione nestled on the couch reading her book.

"Um, you might want to stop reading that book because we have to go patrolling in 5 minutes," said Draco sneering.

Hermione's eyes flashed. "I didn't know you cared Malfoy," she snarled.

She placed her book aside as Malfoy left the room. The two walked their usual path down the corridors of Hogwarts, taking points of students who were misbehaving and displaying public affection. Draco particularly delighted in making the punishments particularly painful.

"You shouldn't be so mean on those first years," said Hermione annoyed.

"Why? That's the only way they're going to learn," said Draco scathingly.

"You reduced that girl back there to tears," shouted Hermione. "Can't you be kinder about it? Why are you always walking over everyone?"

Draco opened his mouth but was interrupted by a timid first year.

"Are you Draco Malfoy?" asked the boy timidly.

"Yes," said Draco regally.

"I have a message here for you. It was lying in the Owlery," said the boy holding out a piece of parchment.

Hermione watched in interest as Draco snatched the paper, ripped off the envelope, opened it, and quickly read it. His eyes grew wide and his face paled as he crumpled the paper. Hermione watched shocked and in horror as Draco took off down the halls towards the Heads room.

Hermione waited until he disappeared across the corner and then took off after him. Her feet pattered behind him noiselessly. Very carefully, she opened the door to the Heads room and closed it behind her. Tiptoeing across the room, she paused outside Draco's room.

Draco cursed as he ripped the letter. Yelling, he picked up a vase and threw it across the room smashing it. He plunged his hand under his bed and brought out his knife. It was getting too much for him. Everything was moving too fast for him. Not caring if it hurt him, he slashed the blade against his skin. Everything disappeared as he focused on his blood flowing down his arm. Everything vanished as he let his blood cover the pain in his heart.

Until he heard a gasp from the door of his bedroom.

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_A/N: Please Review._ **  
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	5. Suspicions

**Hidden Pain **

_Chapter 5: Suspicions_

Hermione was standing in front of his door, her hand over her mouth. Draco tried in vain to hide the knife and his arm but it was too late. The damage was done.

"Malfoy," she started.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!' he roared. "CAN'T YOU KNOCK?"

Hermione pretended not to hear him. "Malfoy, that's really dangerous. You could really hurt yourself," she stammered.

Her brown eyes widened in fright as Malfoy got up and walked towards her his gray eyes burning with anger. His 6-foot frame towered over her 5 foot 6 height. He stopped 7 feet away from her.

"GET OUT! YOU WILL NOT MENTION WHAT YOU SAW TO ANY SOUL," he roared.

"This isn't the way to solve anything Malfoy. Listen to me; there are more ways to solve problems," pleaded Hermione.

"I SAID GET OUT! IF YOU TELL ANYONE I WILL PERSONALLY HEX YOU TO DEATH," yelled Draco apparently not hearing a word she said.

Hermione opened her mouth but Draco walked over, reached over and grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back causing Hermione to whimper.

"If you tell anyone I will make sure that no one hears you again. This is my life and you have no right to know what I'm doing. Forget you ever saw it," hissed Draco his eyes burning.

He brutally pushed Hermione out of the door and slammed it in her face. Hermione turned around slowly, a tear falling down her cheek.

"How can I forget it?" she whispered.

. & .

The rest of the night Hermione lay awake staring at the ceiling above her. She had been right; Draco was harming himself. But why? Was there something really horrible in his life that was causing him to brutally slash himself like that? What was in that letter that made him tear away like that? But Hermione was sure of one thing; Draco was in trouble and needed help.

. & .

The next morning, Hermione dragged herself of bed, ready to hex Draco and make him listen to her. But when she left her room, he was nowhere in sight. Sighing, she resigned herself to a hot shower and changed. When she left the room, she saw a note taped to the door.

_Granger,_

_Dumbledore wants us to meet him at lunch. _

_Malfoy_

Shrugging, she took off the note and threw it away. She then went to the Great Hall halfheartedly and sat next to Harry and Ron.

"Good morning Ron, good morning Harry," she said tiredly as she took a seat in between the boys.

"Good morning Hermione," said Harry before turning to speak to Ginny.

"Good morning, Hello," said Ron turning to face Hermione. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing, what do you mean?" said Hermione helping herself to eggs and toast.

"You have black circles under your eyes and you look dead," said Ron worriedly. "Are you sick?"

"Oh no," said Hermione, "I'm fine. I had a lot of homework last night that's all."

"Really?" said Ron. "That's funny. Anyways, about yesterday.."

Hermione spaced out. She had just looked over at the Slytherin table and seen Draco sitting amongst his friends. But his face was drawn out and worried and he wasn't eating anything. His eyes were drooping and were surrounded by black circles. Hermione felt her heart ache and felt tears rise to the surface. Draco looked up as if he knew someone was looking at him. His gray eyes met Hermione's brown eyes and he didn't move them. Hermione felt like crying as she stared into his eyes. There was the defiance and the arrogance that he was known for but underneath Hermione could see the pain, the helplessness, and the need for someone. Then an owl dropped in front of Draco breaking their exchange.

"So what did you think Hermione," said Ron. Hermione kept staring at Draco until Ron tapped her on the shoulder. He had seen her staring at Malfoy.

"Hermione, did you hear what I said?" asked Ron, "And why are you crying?"

Hermione sniffed and wiped her cheek. Only then did she realize that tears had fallen down her cheeks.

"Oh nothing," said Hermione looking down at her plate.

"Anyways what did you think of what I just said," said Ron prodding Hermione.

"Excuse me Ron. I'm sorry," said Hermione suddenly. She had just seen Draco's face turn the same way it had when they were in the hall. He got up quickly and made his way towards the exit his face tight and drawn.

"Harry," said Hermione scrambling up and over the bench, "can I use your invisibility cloak?"

"Um sure," said Harry taking it out of his bag and giving it to Hermione, "But why?"

"I'll tell you later," said Hermione quickly placing it over herself and following Draco.

Ron gaped as Hermione vanished. He looked around him and saw Malfoy leaving the hall. The next second Hermione had left the hall. Was she following him?

"Harry," said Ron.

"What's up Ron," said Harry turning to face Ron.

"There's something up with Hermione," said Ron worriedly.

"Like what?" said Harry laughing.

"Didn't you see? She was staring at Malfoy and she had tears running down her cheeks. And then Malfoy got up and left the hall and Hermione followed. There's something really weird going on Harry," said Ron desperately.

"And yesterday she lied about the tutoring session," said Harry slowly.

"I'm worried Harry. I have to know if something is wrong," said Ron.

"Look Ron. Maybe she needs time by herself," said Harry though he didn't sounds too sure. "We don't have any proof right now. If she keeps it up then we'll see. It could be sheer coincidence that they left at the same time."

"Maybe," said Ron doubtfully. He fell silent as he mulled over the topic. But he decided that whenever they had Potions, he would keep a close eye on Hermione.

. & .

Hermione quietly followed Draco down the halls lifting the cloak so she wouldn't fall over and get caught. After yesterday's fiasco, she didn't need Draco to find out that she was following him. She needed to run silently to keep up with his fast stride. The letter was clutched and crumpled in his hand and he was swearing under his breath. Out of breath and trying to keep her breath shallow, Hermione ran as Draco led her up to the 5th floor. Finally, Draco pushed open the doors to the Owlery. Thankfully, he pushed them wide enough so Hermione could slip in.

Hermione positioned herself as far as possible from Draco and huddled in a corner, making herself as small as possible. Draco grabbed his owl from the rack and brutally put it next to him. Hermione wanted to yell and to scream but she contained her feelings as she scrutinized Draco. Draco pulled out a piece of fresh parchment and wrote on it quickly. In the process he knocked the letter on the floor, which rolled under the desk.

_Dear Father,_

_I am looking forward to the initiation in the spring and am very pleased to know that you have made reservations for me to humbly serve his "majesty". _

_Your son, Draco _

Draco folded the letter and tied to the owl's leg. After releasing it, he walked to the middle of the room and stamped upon the floor. It finally occurred to him what he had done.

"Bloody hell," he swore. "Why do I always do that? Why don't I have enough strength to go against you? Why?"

"Someone please tell me," screamed Draco pulling his hair. "Please tell me, why am I not strong enough to stand up to you? What's wrong with me? I don't want to be a Death Eater. So why can't I tell you?"

It was too much for Draco. At the end of his last statement, he fell on his knees and put his face in his hands. To her shock, Hermione realized that Draco was crying. Tears slipped through his fingers and fell on the floor. Unknowingly, silent tears dripped from Hermione's eyes and fell on her hands.

"No one cares for me. My mom always sides with my dad. My dad doesn't give a damn about me. What about my wishes? Am I not a person too?" he roared.

"Aren't I worth something,' he said softly tears falling down his cheeks.

Sighing, he simply hunched in the middle of the floor until he was emotionally stable. He picked himself up, adjusted his collar and clothes, and then left the owlery.

Hermione stood up shakily and pulled off the invisibility cloak. As she watched Draco swish away, she felt her heart ache. She had never seen this side of Draco before. He seemed human for once.

Quickly before he remembered his letter, Hermione rushed over to the counter and pulled out the crumpled piece of parchment. She ran from the owlery until she was a floor beneath it. Panting, she collapsed against the wall and smoothed the letter.

_Draco,_

_I sent you a letter yesterday telling you my plans. I have arranged with majesty for your inauguration during the fall. All is now certain. Do not fail in your duties at school. Otherwise a "suitable punishment" will be given. _

_Lucius _

Hermione gasped as she looked up. Draco's dad was forcing him to become a Death Eater? That would explain why he was so mad at her a few months ago when she accused him of siding with the Dark Lord. Was his father causing Draco to cut himself? From what she had just heard, Draco couldn't stand up to his father. Was that causing self-hate and hatred towards his father? Because he couldn't physically do anything and it hurt him, he turned to physical pain to relieve the emotional pain? And what did Lucius mean by suitable punishment? Was Draco abused or tortured when he didn't listen?

Hermione frowned as she held the letter in her left hand. She would have to talk to Draco during Potions about his problem whether he didn't like it or not. Glancing at her watch, Hermione gasped in shock. She had been busy musing over the letter than she was 5 minutes late for Potions. Alarmed, Hermione grabbed her bag and took off down the hall towards her class. In record time, she reached her class and threw open the door breathing hard. The entire class turned as one to see who was late.

"Ah, thank you for coming to class Miss Granger. Why are you late?" asked Snape silkily turning away from the blackboard where the instructions were written.

"Oh, I um," stuttered Hermione walking towards her seat "I had to get something from my room and I lost track of the time."

"Be as that may, 5 points from Gryffindor. Take your seat. Mr. Malfoy will tell you what needs to be done," said Snape.

"Yes sir," said Hermione as she hastily crammed the letter into her bag and sat down.

As soon as the class started working, Draco turned towards Hermione with a sneer.

"We have to make the Felix Felicis potion today. Since you decided not to come for the beginning five minutes I had to get all the ingredients and cauldron," said Draco hotly standing up.

"Thank you," said Hermione softly standing next to him and arranging the ingredients.

For a while, the pair worked silently to make the potion. Hermione didn't realize the pair of brown eyes that a red headed boy had trained on her. Inside, she was bursting to ask Malfoy what was wrong and to help him. For the first time, she didn't care how this potion turned out. Finally, when the potion was required to simmer for 10 minutes, she turned to face Malfoy.

"Malfoy," she started hesitantly, "I've got to talk to you."

"About what," sneered Draco, "we've got nothing to talk about."

"You know what I need to talk to you about," said Hermione evenly. "The scene I saw yesterday. That's dangerous Malfoy. You could really hurt yourself."

"Oh you're a genius Granger," spat Draco. "I don't want to talk about it least of all to you."

He started to turn away but Hermione roughly grabbed him by his robe and pulled him back to face her. Draco was too shocked to throw an insult at her. She stepped closer to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

Across the room, Ron was staring at the pair with a shocked expression on his face. He felt his blood boil when Hermione grabbed Draco by his robes. What was going on? Hermione had a look of concern on her face. Did she like him?

"Listen Malfoy, there is something really horrible in your life if it's causing you to do this," said Hermione. "But cutting isn't going to help you. It's only going to help in the short term. It's not to help solving the problem long term. You're letting that piece of sharp metal control your life. You need help."

"Are you saying that I'm mental? Look who's talking," spat Draco.

"Draco!" shouted Hermione, here eyes flashing. Immediately she clapped her hand over her mouth. Gathering herself together again, she started once more.

"I mean Malfoy," she corrected. "Why don't you tell someone your problems and get advice. Don't resort to cutting."

Hermione was so intent on lecturing Draco that she didn't realize that their potion had started smoking. Thin lines of black smoke rose from the cauldron.

"Well, well, what do we have here," said Snape striding down the row and stopping in front of Hermione and Draco. Hermione was so intense that she didn't even see Snape until he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Please, keep your love out of the class," said Snape smoothly. With a wave of his wand, the smoke stopped billowing out of the cauldron.

Hermione blinked and blushed as she realized how close she was standing to Draco. Her hands were resting on his shoulders and his hand was near her waist. Ron had heard everything; after class he was going to interrogate her at lunch. Quickly, Hermione and Draco stepped apart and continued working. Fortunately for them, no one had paid attention to the exchange between the two. The rest of the class passed without any further disturbances. Finally, when the bell rang Draco grabbed his bag and out the class. Hermione stayed behind staring at his retreating back with a sorrowful look in her eyes.

"Look at her Harry," whispered Ron pointing at Hermione. "It's as if she's in love with him."

"We'll ask her at lunch," said Harry, walking up to Hermione. "Hey Hermione, ready to go?"

"Oh, hello Harry. Yes," said Hermione breathlessly planting a fake smile on her face. But when Ron looked closely he could see the worry reflected in her eyes.

"So Hermione," asked Ron, "Why were you late for class?"

"You heard what I said to Professor Snape," said Hermione seating herself between Harry and Ron.

"I went to the Heads Room though," fibbed Ron. "And no one answered."

"Oh, I must have been in the bathroom or something," said Hermione her cheeks growing hot.

"Ok," said Ron though he didn't sound very sure.

"What was going on between you and Malfoy," said Harry suspiciously holding a spoonful of stew to his mouth.

"Oh, I was uh just trying to convince Draco of something we needed to do for the potion," lied Hermione.

"Draco," said Ron incredulously.

"Oh, I mean Malfoy,' stammered Hermione shaking her head. Suddenly, she remembered that she had to meet Professor Dumbledore. "Look you guys, Professor Dumbledore wanted to meet me at lunch today so if you'll excuse me I need to be going."

"Thank god for that meeting," thought Hermione as she ran. "I was really getting myself in a tight fix."

"Harry," blurted out Ron after she left, "She called him Draco!"

"I know," said Harry furrowing his eyebrows. "There IS something peculiar going on with Hermione."

. & .

Hermione ran up the flight of stairs until she reached Dumbledore's office.

"Acid pops," she panted.

Immediately the gargoyle sprang aside revealing the staircase to Dumbledore's office. Hermione hitched up her book bag and ran up the stairs and rapped on the door 4 times.

"Enter," called Dumbledore.

Hermione opened the door and silently walked to the desk. Draco was already sitting across Dumbledore. Hermione strode forward and sat down; Draco was determinedly keeping his eyes on the Headmaster's face.

"I'm sorry that I called you at this particular time," said Dumbledore folding his hands upon his desk.

"As you know the Christmas Ball will be held in the Great Hall. However, because of the rather appalling scenes that took place last year, we have limited the ball to 6th and 7th years. Anyone younger will not be permitted even if they are accompanied by a 6th or 7th year. Please spread the word by telling Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects who can then tell their entire house at once. You can tell your respective houses later in the evening."

"Finally, I would like to say that as Head Boy and Head Girl it is your duty to start the ball and end it. Therefore you two shall dance the first dance. There are no exceptions," said Dumbledore sternly as he saw both their mouths open in protest.

"Thank you for coming. I don't wish for you to spend the entire lunch in here so specifics will be written on a flier in your rooms," said Dumbledore as he stood up.

Hermione and Draco stood up without looking at each other and left the room quietly. Dumbledore watched them with twinkling eyes. He knew that something would come out of their hateful relationship.

. & .

Later that night, Hermione said the password to the Fat Lady and climbed into the portrait hall.

"Hello everyone," she yelled standing on the table but no one listened to her.

"Ok everyone," roared Harry. "Hermione has something to tell; shut up or I will make you!" Harry who stood on the table and shot scarlet firecrackers out of his wand restored order. He then got off and resumed his spot next to Ginny and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Thank you Harry," said Hermione gratefully. "Ok, I have a message to tell on behalf of the Christmas Ball. This year only 6th and 7th year students are allowed."

"Why?' said a first year crinkling her nose.

"Because there were some rather um disturbing scenes displayed last year," explained Hermione.

"Like what? Can you show me?" asked the first year.

Hermione's eyes bulged as she covered her laugh with a hacking cough.

"Me and Ginny will show you," said Harry slyly.

"Harry," started Hermione but was silenced by a look from Harry.

Harry grabbed Ginny and placed her mouth on hers making the common room fall silent in shock. Ginny scrambled up and sat on Harry wrapping her legs around him. She tangled her hands in Harry's hair as she deepened the kiss. Harry slipped his hands under her shirt. The first year was staring at Harry looking scandalized. Seamus and the rest of the common room stared at Ron who was wincing and looking at the ceiling his face very red. Finally when it was becoming too intense, Ron walked over and tapped Ginny on the shoulder.

"Yes, well anyways that answers the question," said Ginny wiping her mouth her hair very messy.

Hermione cleared her throat and glared at Harry who was acting like nothing happened. The first year was looking rather green in the face.

"Anyways, the Head Boy and I are in charge of the decorations. It is a formal occasion so dresses and suits are a must. There will be a special Hogwarts weekend this Saturday, which is the 2nd, which is in two days, for the shopping. The ball will be held on December 9th, which is a Saturday so students can attend the ball and go home on the 15th if they wish. Any questions?"

The common room shook their heads and the first through fifth years marched off dejected. Hermione jumped gracefully off the table and started pinning several pieces of paper of the Gryffindor bulletin board.

"So Ginny, "said Harry holding Ginny's hand in his, "come with me to my dorm will you?"

"Sure," said Ginny getting off Harry. Together they walked hand in hand to Harry's dorm.

Harry shut the door behind him and went to his bed. He pulled out a dozen red roses and hid them behind his back. He walked to Ginny.

"Milady," he said bowing, "Will you do me the honor of going with me to the dance?"

He held out the roses causing Ginny to gasp. She pulled Harry up and gently took the roses blushing.

"Hmm," she said mocking, "Let me think."

She walked until she was nose to nose with Harry. Then she pressed her lips to his. She pushed Harry until they pull on his bed, Ginny on top. Harry deepened the kiss and flipped them over. The roses scattered over the white bedspread. He pressed his body to Ginny's and placed one hand on either side of her head. After a few minutes of heating snogging, Harry's hand found one of the roses and leaned back. Ginny's face was flushed and her lips were rosy. Harry took the rose and ran it from the tip of her forehead, down her face, down her neck, and down the exposed skin of her extremely low cut shirt. Ginny shivered as she yanked Harry's robes and shirt off.

"Oh my god," she groaned flipping them over, "I love your chest."

"Hey Harry," said Ron coming in. "OH MY GOD! DO YOU GUYS ALWAYS HAVE TO BE DOING THESE THINGS?"

Ron quickly turned around at the sight of his sister on top of a shirtless Harry.

"And do you always have to interrupt?" roared Ginny.

"Sorry Gin," said Ron hurriedly. He turned around after Ginny climbed off Harry. "Harry, you got to help me. I want to ask Hermione to the Winter Ball. But I'm so nervous."

Harry took one look at Ron's face and burst out laughing. Ron was trembling and his face was pale.

"Look mate," said Harry getting off the bed," It's very easy. Go down, give her a dozen roses, and ask her sweetly. She's bound to say yes."

"That's easy for you to say," complained Ron. "I mean practically every girl in the school wants you. Look Harry; I told you over the summer. I love Hermione. I don't just like her; I love her."

"Ok Ron, look. I know that, Ginny knows that but Hermione doesn't. Ask her to the dance; then at the ball you can tell her your true feelings. If it helps I'll come," yawned Harry. Ron's eyes lit up.

"Ok," he said turning towards the door. "But I don't have any roses."

Harry rolled his eyes and flicked his wand. Immediately a dozen pink roses appeared in Ron's arms. Harry scrambled after him but Ginny grabbed his arm.

"I better come with you gorgeous," she growled in Harry's ear. "Do you think I'm that crazy to leave you looking like that in a common room full of girls."

Together Ron, Harry, and Ginny went down the stairs. The common room fell silent as Harry walked out. Girls' jaws dropped in awe as they saw Harry's stomach. He was no longer the skinny lean body that had set foot in Hogwarts. His shoulders were broad and well defined. His jeans were low slung showing off the top of his blue boxers. His hair was rumpled and his six-pack was clearly defined.

"Hey, take your eyes off him," snapped Ginny. "This witch doesn't share."

Ron waited until the common room became noisy again before walking over to Hermione nervously. Harry and Ginny stood a few feet away giving Ron encouraging looks.

"Hey um Hermione," said Ron.

"Hi Ron," said Hermione smiling radiantly.

"Um would you like to go to the ball with me?" asked Ron quickly holding out the roses.

Hermione studied his face before smiling warmly. "I would love to Ron," she said accepting the roses.

"By the way, I'm really sorry about blowing you off at lunch today. Dumbledore needed to explain about the Christmas Ball," said Hermione. "Anyways, I need to be going now. I have another load of homework today."

"Ok," said Ron smiling. Hermione waved and left the room. Ron practically bounced over to Harry and Ginny who were smiling.

"That's great Ron. I'm really happy for you," said Harry sincerely. There was no need for words. Harry could see the excited expression radiating from his megawatt grin.

"I have to go tell people," he said delightedly.

"Well," said Ginny in Harry's ear and tracing a finger down his chest," Can we finish our unfinished business?"

Harry smirked as he and Ginny walked rather very quickly back to his room. Harry closed the door behind him and put a locking charm on it.

The next second he had placed his lips on hers and pushed onto his bed.

* * *

_ A/N: __Hey! Please Review! I'll post faster if I get a lot of reviews! Sorry for putting a little Harry/Ginny. I like including them as well._


	6. Confessions

**Hidden Pain**

_Chapter 6: Confessions_

The next day passed quickly for everyone. The girls were looking especially forward for the Hogsmeade visit. Professors had given up teaching classes; the students mind were somewhere else. Girls could be heard giggling as they whispered with their friends about dates, dresses, and makeup.

. & .

_Knock knock _

"Coming," snarled Draco as he walked over to the Heads door

"Can't you be patient Weaslette," he snarled as she pushed past him.

"Where's Hermione," asked Ginny sharply.

"I don't know. Why should I know?" snapped Draco as he pushed roughly past her and went into his room.

"Oh there you are. Can you tell me the password so I don't have to go through that Malfoy experience again," said Ginny smiling once more, her frown vanishing as Hermione came out.

"You look nice Hermione," said Ginny. "No wonder my brother asked you to the dance."

"Thanks Ginny," said Hermione blushing. She was wearing dark blue jeans with black leather boots. Her cloak covered her thick dark pink sweater. She told Ginny the password.

"You look awesome too," said Hermione. "No wonder Harry is crazy about you."

Ginny was dressed in a pair of extremely tight light blue jeans and a white sweater. Her red hair was straightened and fell over her shoulder like a waterfall tipping over the edge of the cliff. Together, the girls walked out of the room and headed for the check by Mister Filch.

Once in Hogsmeade, the girls ran excitedly through the snow into _Madam Tiffany's Dresses. _Laughing, Hermione took off her cloak and shook the snow off her hair. Both their cheeks were rosy and their eyes were full of laughter. Ginny pulled Hermione towards a rack of dresses.

"Hermione, is there like a mandatory color the Head Boy and Head Girl have to wear," said Ginny.

"Oh yeah," said Hermione her face falling," We have to wear black. What a horrid color."

"Oh of course not," exclaimed Ginny clapping her hands," Black will look beautiful on you."

Ginny searched through the rack for a second and pulled out a black dress. Hermione gasped when she saw the dress.

"Try it on," urged Ginny pushing Hermione towards the dressing room.

Ginny busied herself by searching through the rack until she found the dress for herself. Soon, Hermione came out and stood in front of Ginny. Ginny screamed and dropped her dress.

"Oh Hermione," she breathed, "You look beautiful."

The dress was a midnight black halter dress and ended an inch above Hermione's kneecaps. It was softly glittery until the bottom of her bust. It was extremely tight and highlighted her flat stomach and curves. It flared out at the end. When she walked it flowed gently around her legs.

"Hermione," she exclaimed, "I have the perfect shoes. They're 4 inch black stilettos. They'll look perfect."

"Ok," said Hermione excitedly, her face rosy. "Do you think Ron will like it?"

"Oh, Ron will love it," said Ginny confidently.

"Well, what do you have?" asked Hermione carefully smoothing the dress.

"It's a long strapless white sparkly dress. I thought Harry would like it," said Ginny blushing like crazy.

"Oh, you'd look perfect,' exclaimed Hermione walking around her barefoot. "And we could do this with your hair so it would look…."

"What happened?" asked Ginny turning around. Hermione had a mischievous look on her face.

"You smell like gardenias," said Hermione.

"So," said Ginny shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, when I went to breakfast with Harry today, he smelled like gardenias too," said Hermione raising her eyebrows.

Ginny laughed as her cheeks became even rosier. "Oh, well, I um well we uh. Oh Hermione, you know we've been sleeping together for a month," stammered Ginny.

"I'm just kidding, Ginny" laughed Hermione. "Try on the dress. I'll change meanwhile."

Soon, Hermione walked out of her dressing room carefully folding her black dress, Soon Ginny came out barefoot dressed in the white dress. It was tight around her chest and waist and loosened a little as it fell around her ankles.

"Oh Ginny," Hermione breathed," You look like an angel. Harry will love it."

Ginny squealed and ran into her room to change. Smiling happily, the girls' went to the register and paid for their dresses. Pleased with their purchases, they slowly walked to the Three Broomsticks. The snow had stopped falling and the thatched houses looked like cottages. Snow glistened like diamonds on the trees and houses. Smoke slowly rose from the building in thin gray puffs. The area looked like a fairy tale village.

Stamping their feet on the rug, they entered the pub and sat down at a table.

"Two butterbeers please," said Hermione as Madam Rosmerta swept by with her pad of paper.

"So Hermione," said Ginny," Why did you agree to go with my brother to the ball?"

Secretly she was hoping to find out if Hermione reciprocated her brother's feelings.

"Well," said Hermione after taking a sip of her drink, "I've known him for 7 years now. I think that he could be the best date for me after Harry. But of course, you're dating him so he's off limits. Ron's very conscientious and caring of the people he's friends and family with. He always makes sure everyone has a good time. I think he could be one of the best dates a girl could want."

Ginny smiled sweetly at Hermione's heartfelt response. She didn't clearly state that she loved Ron but that was a start. The girls drank silently for a while and chatted about random topics such as music, guys, couples etc. Then the door opened and Harry and Ron walked in.

"Hey gorgeous," said Harry sliding next to Ginny and kissing her sweetly on the lips. Ron slid next to Hermione and looked pointedly away from Harry and Ginny.

"So what did you buy," said Ron after Harry and Ginny broke apart.

"No showing you," said Ginny pushing her bag away. 'I want to surprise you in a week."

As Ginny, Ron, and Harry chatted about the next Quidditch match, Hermione's attention drifted away to a table in the corner. Draco was sitting by himself drinking a butterbeer staring quietly at the table. Hermione's heart ached for some unfathomable reason as she watched him draw idly with his finger.

"Hey look who it is," said Harry leaning forward. "It's Malfoy and he's all alone."

Draco got up and walked past the table but Harry tripped him. Yelling, he sprawled forward and got up quickly staring angrily and contemptuously at Harry. Ginny and Ron laughed but Hermione just stared sorrowfully at Malfoy.

"Oops, sorry Malfoy," said Harry sweetly. "Didn't see you there? Where are your cronies? Remember on the train you said that I needed good friends? Well where are yours?"

Malfoy didn't answer and simply stared at the floor. He couldn't tell Harry that he hated Crabbe and Goyle. He couldn't tell him that he only hung out with them because his father made him. Not answering, he left the pub.

"Hahaha," said Harry," Did you see his face?"

Harry's laughter vanished when he saw Hermione's face. She wasn't laughing with Ginny and Ron. On the contrary, she looked sad and angry.

"What's wrong Hermione?" he asked.

"Excuse me," she said getting up and scrambling over Ron. "I have to go."

She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the pub. Harry, Ginny, and Ron looked at each other in shock and confusion.

"Why did suddenly get up and leave?" said Ron finally.

"You're right Ron," said Harry shaking his head. "Hermione's acting weird. And every time Malfoy is around her."

"She's doesn't love me back," said Ron despairingly. "She loves Malfoy."

"Don't be stupid," said Ginny hotly, "She does not too. I was talking to her about you before you came. You should have seen the way her face lights up when she was talking about you."

Ron's face brightened a little. "You think so?" he asked.

"Yes," said Harry punching Ron in the shoulder. "Go on. Tell her at the Ball. It will be the perfect timing and everything. I know it will. Everything will work out perfectly."

"Ok," said Ron excited. He glanced at his watch. "Look, the visit will shut in an hour. Why don't we just go back to Hogwarts? Maybe we can find Hermione and work the truth out of her."

Agreeing, Harry left 5 galleons on the table and the threesome walked out. The snow had started falling again and Hermione was nowhere in sight. Shrugging, they trudged through the snow back to the castle.

. & .

Hermione cursed silently to herself as she entered the Head's room. Dropping her cloak on the sofa, she looked around the room. How could Harry have been so cruel? Draco came out of his room and stopped when he saw Hermione.

"Oh, it's you," he sneered. "Did you come to continue to harass me the way Potter was?"

"No," started Hermione but Draco interrupted her.

"Did you have a good laugh when I fell down," he sneered pushing Hermione's shoulder roughly.

"Did Potter crack jokes about how horrible I am," he spat pushing Hermione's other shoulder. Hermione cried as Draco kept pushing her back into the wall.

"Did sweet little Weasley start making fun," said Draco shoving her so her back collided with the wall.

"No," yelled Hermione flaring up pulling Draco down so his eyes were level with hers. In shock, Draco put his left hand on her waist to keep his balance. "I came here to tell you I'm sorry for what they did. I didn't want them to do it."

Breathing hard, Hermione stared into Draco's eyes. She could see the anger that he held towards Harry's act but she could also see the hurt and the pain. She felt as mesmerized as she did when he had put the Transfixing spell on her. She was slowly drowning in them. Only when someone gasped did she come back to the world with a sudden unpleasant jolt.

"Hermione," gasped Ginny standing in the door. "You and HIM?"

Hermione jumped away when she realized how close she and Draco were for the second time. They were practically nose-to-nose and she had been staring into his eyes. His hand had been on her waist. Any fool, would think that she was in love with him. Draco shook his head and went into his bedroom as if nothing had happened.

"Ginny," she pleaded. "You have to listen to me."

"No," said Ginny shaking her head. "I already saw what I needed to."

"No, Ginny. Please let me explain," begged Hermione desperately.

Ginny regarded Hermione warily and then reluctantly sat on the sofa. Hermione sat next to her and took a deep breath.

"Look Ginny. I know what Draco and me looked like. I looked like I loved him. But, I don't. I know I've been acting strange when I'm around Malfoy. Harry and Ron have noticed that as well; I can tell. I've been interrogated a few times by them. I can't tell you but my view of Malfoy has completely changed. All I can tell you is that I don't like him or love him. You have to believe me," said Hermione sincerely.

"I believe you Hermione," said Ginny finally after she studied Hermione for a few moments. She stood up and gave Hermione a hug.

"Well, I have to be going. I wanted to see if everything was ok after you bolted from the pub," said Ginny.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that too. I didn't like what Harry did. Do me a favor please; don't tell Harry or Ron about anything ok?" said Hermione.

"Sure hon. See you around," said Ginny and then walked out of the door. Hermione sighed and flopped on the couch.

. & .

"Malfoy," said Hermione as Draco walked through the door," We need to make the plans for the decorations today. We're done with your tutoring session now. You've successfully caught up. We need the plan by tomorrow."

"Do it yourself," said Draco yawning. Hermione studied him closely. His eyes were surrounded with deeper black circles and his clothes were wrinkled. Hermione knew that he hadn't been sleeping much the past few nights.

"Malfoy," said Hermione as he walked to his room.

"Now what?" snapped Draco turning around.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'll go patrolling by myself tonight. And I'll do the decorations. You look really tired," said Hermione softly unfazed by his attitude.

"Oh," said Draco clearly at a loss for words. "Well uh thanks."

Hermione carefully put aside her essay and pulled a clean piece of parchment towards her. Soon, she was absorbed in her decorations. When the clock chimed 9, she put her drawing aide pleased at her success and left to patrol.

. & .

The next week passed quickly for the students. Hermione was kept busy supervising the decorations for the ball. Dumbledore had reserved the Great Hall for the Ball from 8 to 12. The night before the ball, Hermione looked around the room and clapped happily; the room looked beautiful.

"Hi Hermione," exclaimed Ginny as she entered Hermione's room.

"Ginny, you have got to help me," begged Hermione. "I don't know anything about makeup. My mum bought me so much over the summer but she didn't teach me how to use it."

"No problem," said Ginny," Change into your dress and shoes and I'll fix you up."

"Thanks," said Hermione relieved. She went into her room and changed while Ginny changed in the bathroom.

"You done," said Ginny knocking on the door after she put on her white dress and strappy 3 inch heels.

"Yeah," called Hermione, "come in."

Ginny walked in where Hermione was staring at herself hopelessly in her mirror. Ginny placed all her beauty supplies on her table and stood beyond Hermione, regarding her critically.

"Ok," she muttered. She twirled Hermione's seat around so Hermione was facing her. She grabbed her wand and muttered a spell. Hermione gaped as the wand turned red hot. Ginny went to work grabbed portions of Hermione hair and straightened them but leaving 3 inches at the bottom. She then curled them and added a bouncing spell so they sashayed around her shoulders smoothly.

Then she grabbed her eye shadow compact. Carefully, she outlined Hermione's eyes with black eyeliner. She then carefully spread brown sparkly powder on her eyelids. Smoothing the powder, she added a little solid beige powder to balance it out. She then carefully applied black mascara on Hermione and spread rose-colored lipstick on Hermione's lips.

"Turn around," said Ginny proudly.

Hermione turned and gasped. Her eyes stood out sparkling and glowing. Her hair fell around her shoulders in perfect curls. Her makeup was applied so lightly that she looked natural.

"Thank you Ginny," said Hermione giving Ginny a hug.

"You look awesome girl," said Ginny. "Ron's going to have competition keeping you tonight."

Hermione blushed as Ginny seated herself at Hermione's table. She carefully applied creamy cream-colored powder to her eyes and an earth colored lipstick to her lips. She carefully outlined her eyes with brown eyeliner and applied black mascara. She straightened her hair so it fell over her shoulders gracefully. She pulled the sides back and fastened them in the back with a white barrette.

"Harry's going to fall on his face when he sees you," said Hermione in awe. "You look like an angel."

"Thanks," said Ginny beaming. "Now jewelry time! I have perfect onyx earrings. They dangled a little but they'll look perfect with your dress."

Hermione screwed the chandelier earrings onto her ears and waited as Ginny fastened diamond earrings onto her ears. It looked beautiful against her red hair.

"Let's go outside," said Ginny. "It's 7:30. They'll be here soon."

Hermione and Ginny walked out just as there was a knock. Hermione opened the door and Harry and Ron walked in. Their jaws dropped when they saw their dates.

"Oh Ginny," said Harry walking up to her and handing her a dozen white roses. "You look..I can't even describe it."

"You look perfect Harry," said Ginny.

Harry was dressed in a black tuxedo. A black silk tied stood out against his white crisp shirt. His hair was untamed as usual.

"Don't I get a kiss," pouted Ginny placing the roses on Hermione's sofa.

"I'll ruin your lipstick," said Harry but was stopped when Ginny grabbed him and kissed him tenderly. Harry put his arms around her waist and kissed her back tenderly. He smoothed her back and deepened the kiss.

"You look beautiful Hermione," said Ron honestly as he handed her a bouquet of gardenias.

"Thank you Ron," said Hermione softly kissing him on the cheek, making Ron go red. She gently put the gardenias in a vase and turned toward Harry and Ginny.

"Um, guys," said Hermione, "Do you want to go to a ball?"

Harry and Ginny broke apart grinning guiltily. Harry pecked her one last time before Ginny quickly fixed her lipstick. Together, they left the portrait hall and walked towards the Great Hall.

. & .

Professor Dumbledore had not yet opened the hall; there was a big mass of black and bright vibrant colors. Pairs were standing in a huddle waiting to be let in at the stroke of 8. Finally Professor Dumbledore arrived.

"Please, "he said, "Line up in two line with your date. We will be going in pair by pair. The first pair will be our Head Boy and Head Girl, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger."

The crowd jostled and pushed and soon they were two lines on either side of the door. The door to the Ball opened slowly. Hermione and Draco stood at the end and slowly walked through. Boys whistled as Hermione walked by and girls threw Hermione nasty looks as she passed. Slowly, each couple entered the Great Hall and as soon as the last couple entered the door shut. It had a spell that anyone under a 6th year couldn't enter.

The Great Hall looked spectacular. There was a huge space cleared in the middle for the dancing floor. It was charmed to be made of a rich lightwood. The ceiling was a deep black and sparkled with millions of twinkling stars. On the north floor (point of view from door), there was a raised dais. Already, the Weird Sisters were assembled and waiting. Behind them were 4 giant Christmas trees sparkling with ornaments. Around the dance floor was a thick strip of a darker wood. The walls had wreaths hung every few feet and light sparkled from the walls. There were benches and tables placed around the dance floor. The tables were covered with gold tablecloths and had sparkly confetti sprinkled over it. All in all, the Great Hall looked amazing.

"Welcome to our annual Christmas Ball," said Professor Dumbledore who was standing on the dais. "I would like to give a huge thank you to out Head Boy and Head Girl for organizing the events and decorations. Let's give a hand to Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger."

The hall burst into applause. Hermione blushed but Draco remained as emotionless as usual with Pansy pressing herself into him.

"There is a bar but please, if I find anyone acting tipsy they will be removed from the hall. I am very serious on this matter," said Dumbledore sternly. "Second, we have called a photographer tonight to capture the night on tape. They will also be taking couple portraits and pictures for no cost. Our Head Boy and Head Girl will perform our first dance. They will open the dance floor. During the song after the first minute, other couples will be able to join them."

Hermione left Ron's side and Draco disengaged himself from Pansy. Together, they strode to the middle of the dance floor and faced each other. Hermione walked close to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Draco placed his strong hands on her small waist and drew her close to him. As the music started playing, they slowly moved to the music. Hermione looked at Draco's black tie and Draco looked at the top of her head.

He had to admit when he saw her he was astonished. She looked beautiful tonight; she had completely shocked him. If she wasn't a Mudblood, he's definitely be interested. The way her hair was falling over her shoulders was like a smooth stream gliding over the small pebbles. And her legs were so shapely and her stomach so flat that he had found himself staring. Her figure was so curvaceous that he couldn't help but wonder why she left it hidden.

Hermione stared at Draco's tie as her mind wandered once more. She had never been this close to Draco but for some reason it felt right. She couldn't deny it when she saw Draco tonight; he looked amazing. His muscular body was fitted in a black tuxedo and his black tie stood out from his gray silk shirt. His blond hair was splayed over his forehead. She wanted to hug Draco so horribly. She didn't know why but a part of her wanted to wrap her hands around him and hug his sorrows away. Draco wasn't the man that he had shown Hogwarts these 7 years. There was a kinder, lovable side to him that Hermione wanted to bring out.

Finally, the dance ended and Hermione raised her gaze. She had been so absorbed that she hadn't realized that other couples surrounded them. Even as the band started another song, Hermione and Draco stood immobilized in the middle their hands still on each other staring at each other.

Professor Dumbledore was watching them with a small smile on his face. He could see the magic beginning to erupt Hermione and Draco. He knew that it would only be a matter of weeks before they got together.

"Hey Hermione," said Ron coming up to them, "Want to dance with me?"

Hermione started as if an electric current passed through her and took her hands off Draco, who walked away with Pansy. Smiling, she took Ron's hand and danced the next 4 dances with him. Next to them were Harry and Ginny who were dancing very close.

"Hey Ron," she said, "I'm getting rather tired. Would you mind if I sat this one out?"

"Of course not," said Ron escorting her to a table. "I'll get something for us to drink."

"Hi Hermione," said Ginny as she and Harry flopped on the bench next to her.

"This is a great ball," commented Harry, "You did a really good job Hermione."

"Thanks," smiled Hermione.

"Here," said Ron coming out. "I got Ginny and Hermione gillywaters and firewhiskeys for Harry and myself."

"Don't go overboard," said Hermione sharply as Ron and Harry sipped their drink.

"Relax," said Harry. "We'll be fine."

The couples sat together for the next hour talking, laughing, and dancing. Basically, simply enjoying themselves. When Hermione and Ginny got up to visit the powder room, Ron tapped Harry to the shoulder.

"I think I'm going to do it now mate," said Ron. "I think I should tell her that I love her now."

"After we take pictures," said Harry. "Then take her outside and tell her near a rose bushes. They're lit and everything. It's very romantic."

"Ok," said Ron.

When Hermione and Ginny got back, their hair brushed and their makeup touched up, Harry and Ron stood up.

"I think we should take pictures now," said Harry.

"Ok," agreed Hermione.

The coupled walked towards the cameraman and waited until he finished taking pictures of Seamus and Lavender.

"Ok," said the cameraman, "I think we'll take couple shots and then a group picture."

Harry and Ginny went up first. The man made Ginny stand up on a few boxes to bring her 5 foot 7 frame up to Harry's 6 foot 1 build. He flicked his wand and changed the background to a sparkly gray. He placed Ginny in front of Harry who wrapped his arms around her waist. Ginny then tilted her head to the side a little and Harry nestled his head shallowly. Smiling, the cameraman shot their picture. He then made Harry pick Ginny up who wrapped her hands around his neck. The cameraman shot them and then gestured for Ron and Hermione to come.

He took a picture of Ron and Hermione standing sideways with Ron behind Hermione against the sparkly beige background. He then made Hermione sit on a box and Ron stand behind her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, the cameraman shot their picture.

"Now all of you," he said.

Ginny and Harry climbed up to the boxes. The cameraman made Hermione and Ginny sit on the boxes while Harry and Ron stood behind them. He then took another pose with Ginny and Hermione in the middle while Harry and Ron placed their arms around them on either side; the order was Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron. After receiving copies of their pictures, they climbed down and were walking towards their table when Malfoy stopped Hermione.

"What do you Malfoy," said Ron scathingly.

"Nothing with you," snapped Malfoy. "Granger, Dumbledore wants to see us."

Without a word, Hermione followed Draco to the stage.

"Ah, there you are. I wanted to congratulate both of you for the success," said Professor Dumbledore.

"Oh, well most of it should go to Granger," said Draco. "She planned most of it."

Hermione looked at Draco incredulously when he said that. Even Professor Dumbledore looked momentarily stunned.

"Well be as that may, we want a picture of the Head Boy and Head Girl together this year,' said Professor Dumbledore.

"Yes sir," said Hermione.

Without arguing, the pair walked towards the photographer.

"Excuse me," said Hermione, "We need one picture. We're the head Boy and Head Girl."

"Oh yes," said the cameraman.

He switched the background to a pretty semi dark gray. He placed Draco on the right with Hermione at his left. He then placed Draco's right hand around Hermione's waist who placed her hand on Draco's chest. The cameraman took the picture and then waved for them to come down. But in the process Hermione slipped and started to fall. Screaming, she found herself stabilized by two hands. She looked up and found herself staring in Draco's eyes.

The cameraman looked up ready to yell at them but then he stopped. Draco was crouching on one knee on the top box while his other foot rested on the lower box. One hand was wrapped around her waist while the under was under her knees. Hermione had her hands firmly planted around his neck and their noses were nearly touching. Their lips were less than an inch apart. Unknown to them, the cameraman took a picture and developed it. Little did she know that the little picture would cause trouble later on.

Draco slowly pulled Hermione up until she was stable on two boxes.

"Thank you," she whispered before walking down the boxes carefully, Draco following her down and then went to Pansy.

"Hi," said Hermione breathlessly to Ron a few minutes later. "Where are Harry and Ginny?"

"Oh, they went back to the dance floor," said Ron jerking this thumb. "Um, would you come outside with me for a minute?"

"Sure," said Hermione.

Ron led Hermione to a bench, which was surrounded by rose bushes. Lights illuminated the area around them. Behind them was a marble fountain that had clear water flowing from it. Hermione sat down and smoothed her dress. Ron bent down slowly and took Hermione's hand in his.

"Look Hermione," he started. "We've known each other for seven years now. We've shared fun moments together, dark moments together. We've been through a lot but we had each other by our side. But Hermione, I think I want you by my side forever."

"What do you saying," said Hermione softly.

"I'm saying Hermione, that I love you," said Ron softly looking at his hand that was covering Hermione's.

Hermione stared at Ron shocked she had not expected this. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth ready to answer but she was cut by the noise of footstep running. She looked up and was astonished to see Draco running at fully speed towards the dorm with a letter in his hand. Soon, he had vanished from sight. And so had Ron's confession from Hermione's mind.

"Draco," she yelled but he was gone.

Springing up, Hermione ran after him leaving Ron behind kneeling on the bench.

"Draco," whispered Ron.

He felt like he had been slapped in the face. He had been rejected. A feeling of disbelief spread throughout him. But soon, it became filled with the hollow, undeniable, feeling of hollowness and rejection. He swallowed hard; not only had she rejected him and his love but she had run after Malfoy. He got up slowly and sat on the bench, his eyes focusing nowhere. The only thing reverberating throughout his head was Hermione's yell; Draco, Draco, Draco.

Ginny and Harry strolled outside hand in hand laughing. Ginny caught sight of Ron sitting on the bench looking dejected. Harry and Ginny looked at each other as their laughter died.

"Hey Ron," said Ginny weakly sitting next to her brother, "What happened? Where's' Hermione?"

"She rejected me," said Ron hollowly, "But before that she yelled out Malfoy's name. And she ran after him; she didn't even give me an answer."

"Ok Ron, that's it," said Harry rather angrily, "I'm going to go find Hermione and ask her what the bloody hell she was thinking. She's been acting this weird for the past month. But this time, she went too far. You can't just blow someone off like that when they confess they love you."

"No Harry," said Ginny placing her hand on Harry's arm, "Look, I talked to Hermione last week. She doesn't like Malfoy, let alone love him. But she has discovered something about Malfoy that changed her opinion of him. She didn't tell me what that was but Harry, she has her rights. I agree, it was extremely rude of her to blow off Ron and I will talk to her about that. I don't think I will be able to tonight but tomorrow for sure definitely."

"Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the ball," said Ron standing up. "I need to go back to the Gryffindor common room."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other as Ron silently walked away without another word. As he swiftly walked away, a tear fell down the redheaded boy's face.

. & .

Hermione ran down the halls as fast as she could in Ginny's stilettos. Hermione yelled the password and scrambled into the dorm breathing heavily. She ran to Draco's room and twisted the doorknob' it was locked. Frantically, Hermione found her wand and shot spells at it. Bu this simply bounced back; Draco obviously didn't want anyone to come.

"Draco," screamed Hermione pounding on the door. "Please!"

Inside, Draco had already thrown off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt and loosened his tie. His blade was already out when he heard Hermione run in. Cursing, he flicked open his knife and angrily slashed his skin.

"Bloody hell," he cursed, "Why do you always have to send letters at the worst time? For once, I was slowly forgetting everything and then you send that letter. WHY? WHY?"

He could hear Hermione banging on his door through the confusion that was swirling through his head.

"Go away Granger," he yelled angrily.

Hermione collapsed against his door and wept. She had failed again. Inside, Draco was hurting himself and she couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

_ A/N: Thanks for the reviews! This story will have a lot more Hermione/Draco. This is LONGER than the previous chapter. ELEVENE PAGES! It's personally my favorite chapter. I personally adore this chapter. _

_It's setting the stage for the climax in the next chapter. A LOT happens in this chapter; it really sets the stage for everything that will happen next. The romance, the jealously, etc. _

_Please Review! Same message as previous chapters. The climax is in the next chapter!_


	7. Friendship

**Hidden Pain**

_Chapter 7: Friendship_

After a few minutes of sobbing, Hermione picked herself up and went to her room. She shakily took off the shoes and dress and changed into her towel. Her face had turned black and brown with from the mascara and eye shadow. Sniffing, she wrapped it tightly around her and ran for the bathroom. As she stood under the warm spray, her salty tears mingled with the hot water. She buried her hands in her face as she broke down once more. After washing her hair quickly, she got out and changed into a lavender spaghetti strap and soft short lavender shorts. After towel drying her hair, she walked back outside and settled on the couch. Flicking her wand at the fireplace, she simply stared at the orange and yellow flames. She grabbed her big thick blanket and wrapped it around herself as she lost herself in the dancing flames. To soothe herself, she conjured a cup of coffee as she drank it in big shaky gulps.

She glanced towards Draco's room and saw that it was still shut. Tears welled up in her eyes and her body shook with sobs. She wanted to help him so bad; she didn't know what Harry and Ron would say though.

RON! Hermione sat up straight her eyes wide and knocked her cup of coffee all over the floor but Hermione paid no attention. She had been so busy worrying about Draco that she had forgotten about Ron's confession. Burying her head in her hands, she silently cursed at herself. How could she have been so stupid, so blind? He had spilled his deepest secret and she had simply run off. Not only that but it was after his arch-nemesis. She groaned; how stupid could she get? Harry and Ginny must be fuming at her right now.

Inside, his room Draco breathed heavily as he fingered his knife. He had heard Hermione run off 15 minutes ago. He glanced at his arm where a fresh cut had formed. He sighed and smiled. He felt happy for the first time in the day. Then his grin vanished.

He was happy because he cut himself. He couldn't sleep unless he cut himself. He couldn't function unless he cut himself. Hermione's words flashed through his brain; "_You're letting a piece of metal control your life." _In shock, Draco dropped the blood stained knife to the carpet as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Hermione had been right all along. He was letting that 3 inch silver piece of metal control his emotions. His breath came out in harsh forced exertions. He really did need help; how could he have dug himself so far into this trap that everything relied on the knife? He had pushed people away and relied on his own blood to cover the pain. But Hermione was right; he was sick and he needed help. Panting Draco sat down on his bed his body trembling. He had realized his problem; he had help. All he needed was to go and get it.

Walking carefully around the knife, he picked it up and then Draco opened his door quietly. He saw Hermione sitting wrapped in a blanket staring into the fire forlornly. He quietly walked out and walked over to her where he slid next to her on the couch. Quietly he wiped it with his undershirt and dropped it onto Hermione's lap.

Hermione looked up her eyes glistening with tears. She picked up the knife with a shaking hand and moved it to the table.

"Do you really mean it Draco?' whispered Hermione a tear falling down her cheek.

"Yes, I do Hermione, I mean Granger," said Draco quietly.

"You can call me Hermione," laughed Hermione softly.

"Ok Hermione," said Draco. Taking a deep breath he started spilling his feelings. "Look Hermione, I realized tonight that you were right those times in Potions class. You were right about everything; I need help. I was grown too reliant on the knife. I was beginning to pin everything on the knife."

A tear fell down Hermione's cheek as she got up and shook the blanket off her. Gingerly she knelt in front of Draco and took his left arm. She slowly traced the new cut with a polished nail.

"I can heal it," said Hermione standing up. "It's the muggle way but it will spare you from going to Madam Pomfrey. And Draco, don't worry. If you need help, I'm here."

Hermione disappeared into the bathroom and Draco watched her walk. For an unexplainable reason, he felt a feeling of warmth travel throughout his body when Hermione said that she would be by his side. Smiling slightly, he sat up as Hermione returned with a kit and sat next to him.

"Draco, maybe you should take off that blood stained shirt," said Hermione laughing.

Draco grinned and pulled off his shirt revealing his six pack stomach. Hermione's mouth went dry as she stared at his stomach. Blushing slightly, she took his arm and gently spread Neosporin over them. Draco looked at her carefully as she worked. Her clean hair fell upon her bare shoulders. When she moved, the whiff of jasmine entranced him. In spite of himself, he found himself thinking that she was beautiful. Her big brown soft eyes and soft fingers worked gently on his skin. Not to mention, her beautiful figure was attractive. Finally, she finished and stood up.

"They'll heal and then soon they'll vanish," said Hermione smiling. "If scars remain then I'll learn a spell to remove them so you won't have to see Madam Pomfrey."

"You would do that for me," said Draco softly staring her.

"Yes," said Hermione softly. She quickly turned and walked into the bathroom to replace the kit.

Draco stared incredulously. No one he had met had ever offered to do anything for him. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable.

"Would you like some coffee," asked Hermione as she came out again.

"Coffee?" asked Draco raising his eyebrows,

"It's a Muggle drink. It's very strong just to tell you," said Hermione.

"That's ok," said Draco leaning back. "And I would like some, thank you. I guess I owe you an explanation of why I've been acting like this."

"Ok," said Hermione trying to contain her excitement. She knelt down and picked up her cup. Her smiled vanished as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey," said Draco rather softly, "What's wrong?"

"Oh," said Hermione sniffling as she made the coffee," I just uh really hurt one of my friends. I really hope that he forgives me."

"Harry?" asked Draco accepting his cup. "Thanks."

"No, Ron," said Hermione. "He told me something really deep and I was so busy focusing on something else that I ran out on him"

"What did he say," said Draco curiously. "Hey, this stuff is really good!"

Hermione sighed. "He said that he loved me. But I was so intent on the fact that you looked so angry that I ran out on him."

Draco looked stunned. "Hermione, you didn't have to do that for me. I'm really actually very flattered."

Hermione blushed and looked down. "I just really hope that he forgives me."

"I'm sure he will," said Draco. "Tell me tell you my explanation. You deserve to know."

Hermione shifted closer and wrapped the blanket around him too. After taking another sip, Draco started.

"It's a rather long explanation. See, back when my mother and father went to school, my father was one of the most sought after guys. However, there was one guy who could really rival him and that was Potter's father, James Potter. My father used to tell me how popular James was with the girls. He hated him beyond anything. But my father originally didn't love my mother. He loved Lily Evans. She was his first love; they started dating in the 2nd year and went until the beginning of seventh year.

Now my mother loved my father but he only had eyes for Lily. However, my mother knew that James was in love with Lily. She wanted Lucius for herself. So, when she found out the James had become Head Boy, she forced Dippit, the headmaster then to make Lily Head Girl instead of her. My mom tried everything she could to make James and Lily come together. And she succeeded; in the middle of their seventh year, Lily broke her relationship with my father and went out with James instead. My father was heartbroken; he then turned to my mother. And soon, they fell in love and got married.

But my father never got over Lily completely. He wanted revenge; all the love that he possessed for Lily turned into hate for her and James. That's why he joined Voldemort. He knew that revenge would be inevitable if he offered his services to the Dark Lord. But what my father didn't know was that he could never back out. And slowly, my father began to sink into the Dark Arts. With the death of Lily and James my mother felt that maybe Lucius would change back into the loving and caring husband he once was. But he didn't. The coldness and harshness became his permanent features. Instead of explaining issues calmly, he resorted to violence as he had received from Voldemort and used when he was ordered. Voldemort became his life and his God.

He saw his past as a weakness. His former self became a mere shadow. He viewed his love, his laughter as weakness. That was the thing that brought upon Lily's betrayal and he completely destroyed that part of himself.

When I was born, my father wanted me to follow his footsteps. He hated any Potter; anyone that would remind him of his former love. That's why he hates muggleborns. They remind him of Lily Evans. As I grew up, I never got the love of my father or mother. My dad had molded such that she was too scared to go against any of his orders. My childhood was one that I can never forget. Every footstep almost killed me; I was so scared that I would knock something by accident or break something. If I did, my so-called father would torture me. And my mother didn't do anything but accept his decisions.

When I was 5, my father found out what my mother had done their seventh year. That's when everything turned upside down. I remember that night he came in; his eyes were livid and bloodshot. His face was set and his body was shaking with uncontrollable anger. He had grabbed my mother and slapped her with such force that she flew across the room. I felt as if I had been slapped as well. All the respect that I had put in him was destroyed in that one second.

As the time passed, I became stared of my father. I had to be HIS son. I had to follow HIS rules, HIS customs. I had to portray that façade that I have for the past 7 years. He taught me that MuggleBorns were scum and I was scared to tell them that they weren't. He molded me into the hard cold person that he had become and I was too scared to show my true side. I have been a complete bastard these years and I'll admit it.

But last summer, he started pressuring me to become a Death Eater. I wanted to become an Auror. I didn't want to support the Dark Lord. I'd seen all the death, all the despair he had caused and I was determined to abstain from being a part of all that. I told him that and he tortured me beyond anything I'd ever felt. I became so scared. Everything he said to me became an order. I had no say in what I wanted to do! I couldn't have the right to decide what I wanted to become, what I wanted to eat! He had no respect for my wishes. And I had nobody to tell. That's why I resorted to my knife. I'd cover the pain, the helplessness, and the anger with my blood. It became the only way I could survive. Otherwise, I felt as if I was being smothered."

Draco looked down at his blankets ashamed. Hermione sniffed as she stared sorrowfully at Draco. Slowly, she leaned forward at wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face in his shoulder as she started crying. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Draco stiffened for a moment but then he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head against hers. It had been so long since he felt wanted and valuable. As the scent of jasmine overpowered him, he closed his eyes and relaxed. Soon, Hermione's eyes fluttered close and her breathing became regular. Draco removed the blanket and gently lifted Hermione. Carefully, he carried her to her room and laid her on her bed. He gently covered her with the soft comforter and then left after smiling softly.

He returned to his room and for the first time in many months when he lay down, he fell asleep immediately.

. & .

Hermione yawned and stretched as the first rays of sunlight hit her bedspread. Opening her eyes blearily, she looked around as he wiped her eyes. Suddenly, all the memories of yesterday crashed upon her. She smiled radiantly as she remembered Draco's promise. She skipped over to the window and pulled apart the curtains and opened the window. Breathing deeply, she pulled back her hair and grabbed her towel. After a quick shower, she changed into her black skirt that went mid-thigh, her white blouse, and her black sandals. She then threw her Gryffindor robes on and exited the bathroom. She was met with the sight of Draco who was sitting at one of the tables and reading the Potions book.

"Hi Draco," said Hermione as she passed by.

"Hello," replied Draco pleasantly. "We have about 25 minutes left for breakfast. I thought you might want to go quickly as you have to talk to Ron remember."

"Oh yeah thanks," said Hermione slowly, her high spirits ebbing away. She frowned as she heaved her book bag upon her shoulder.

"Hey don't worry about it too much," said Draco with concern. "Hey, if you'll wait a second, I'll walk with you."

"Ok,' said Hermione.

Draco ran to his room, fetched his bag, and together the pair walked down to the Great Hall.

"Hermione," said Draco softly. "I think you should go in first. Your friends will be rather very suspicious if we walk in together."

"Thanks Draco," said Hermione smiling sweetly.

Breathing deeply, she pushed open the door and walked over to the Gryffindor table. A few minutes later, Draco entered after.

"Um Ron," she said quietly with a note of pleading in her voice, "Can I talk to you?"

Ron turned around quickly and nearly spit his orange juice out of his mouth.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said coldly.

"Please Ron," begged Hermione as she grabbed his wrist. "You too Harry and Ginny. Can we go into the hall?"

Ginny gave Harry a pleading look.

"I guess so," said Harry stiffly as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. Reluctantly, they followed Hermione out of the hall and into the corner of the steps. Ron, Ginny, and Harry sat in a straight line and fixed their eyes on her.

"Look you guys," she started. "I'm sorry. For everything. I know that you guys have been suspecting me of having a relationship with Draco but I'm not. Yes, I called him Draco. We have become friend over the year. But there's' nothing more than that. I want to apologize especially to you Ron. I was extremely rude and extremely selfish last night. There was no excuse for me to do that and I really hope that you can forgive me. I can't tell you why or how I became friends with Draco. That is strictly confidential and I can't betray him like that.. All of you. I hope that we can be friends and that you'll not think of me as a betrayer for being pals with Draco."

Harry's expression softened and he got up. He gave Hermione a hug who gratefully returned it.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said.

Ginny was the next one who hugged Hermione and gave her a warm smile.

Harry and Ginny left and Hermione sat next to Ron.

"I know it will take time to not be angry at me. But I know that I fully deserve the anger. But Ron, I'm so sorry," said Hermione her voice breaking, "I don't reciprocate your feelings. I'm so sorry. I hope that we can still be friends though."

Hermione burst into tears and Ron's expression softened. Gently he gave her a hug.

"You can't help your feelings," he whispered as he rubbed her back. 'I'm just sad about last night. It will take some time to get over though. But I'd love to be friends."

Hermione smiled and wrapped her arms around Ron just as Draco walked out. As he saw Hermione's smile, he felt a surge of jealously and anger run through him. Quickly, he turned his back and walked down the stairs to Snape's dungeons. The bell would ring in one minute anyhow. Just as he predicted, the bell rang and Hermione and Ron separated. Smiling tearfully, she wiped her eyes and face and started walking with Ron to their Potions class.

Ron and Hermione separated towards their seats. Smiling, she slid in next to Draco.

"Hi," he whispered, "How did it go?"

"It went great! Ron wasn't mad when I said that I didn't love him back," said Hermione.

Draco turned so he was fully facing Hermione. She didn't love Ron? For the second time, he felt a rush of an unexplainable feeling of relief. Shaking his head, Draco focused as Snape walked to the front of the class.

"I know that there are only 3 days before students will be leaving but that doesn't mean that we will be fooling around," said Snape sternly. "I have decided that there is no use in starting something new. For the remainder of the 3 days, I have scheduled us to be at the library so you can write out your essay of the Lucky Potion. But if I expect the behavior that you would demonstrate in here."

The class gathered their bags and scooted towards the exit. Draco and Hermione grabbed their bags and walked together to the library.

"Hey, said Hermione as she fell in step, "I think maybe we could split up the work. I could do the uses and benefits while you research the cons and procedure. That way we don't research the same thing and have too much for one area and none for the other."

"That's a good idea," said Draco as he dumped his bag on the table.

Hermione carefully put her backpack on the desk and immediately went to the shelves to find the books. Draco sat down and took out the quills and parchment. In a few minutes, Hermione came back with a few heavy books.

"Whew," said Hermione plopping down next to Draco. "Ok, let's start!"

Draco opened the book and started reading. Halfway, he looked over at Hermione and smiled. He watched enraptured by the way she simply read. He watched her furrow her brows as she fathomed a bit of hard evidence. He loved the way she bit her perfect rosy lips when she furiously copied down the notes. He was so intent in observing her that he didn't realize that his quill had made a huge ink spot on his parchment.

Professor Snape was watching his favorite pupil with a half smile on his face. He could see the obvious attraction between Draco and Hermione. He had even seen the attraction at the Ball. Laughing to himself, he watched at Draco unknowingly was ruining his parchment.

"Mr. Malfoy," said Snape softly, "Maybe we could have a little more work and a little less staring?"

Draco jumped in the air and dropped his quill on his parchment. His eyes grew wide when he saw his parchment, which was covered with black stains. Blushing slightly, he waved his wand and made the marks disappear. For the rest of the period Draco kept his eyes on his paper and focused on taking the notes. At the end of the period Hermione pushed back her seat and yawned. She stretched her arms exposing her flat stomach. Draco found himself unable to take his eyes away.

"Did you get enough information?" asked Hermione as Draco stood up.

"Yes," said Draco showing her the 10 rolls of parchment causing Hermione's eyes to grow wide. He chuckled as he carefully folded them and put them in his bag.

"Are you going to the head rooms?' asked Hermione swinging her bag on her shoulders as the bell rang.

"No, I got to run to a Quidditch meeting," answered Draco.

"Ok, well then I'll see you sometime in the evening," said Hermione giving him a radiant smile.

Draco nodded and then rushed from the class in high spirits. For a reason he couldn't explain, he couldn't wait to see her again.

. & .

"Hey Harry," chirped Hermione as she walked up to Harry after Potions. "Going to lunch?"

"Yes, let's wait for Ron," said Harry packing his bag haphazardly. Hermione frowned and shook her head.

"Ready?" asked Ron coming from behind the bookshelf.

"Yes," answered Hermione.

Together, the triad walked down to the stairs towards the Great Hall. Talking animatedly, they sat side by side at the Gryffindor table.

"So, Hermione," said Ron spearing a potato on his fork, "I completely forgot to ask you; are you going home this Christmas?"

"Yes, I am. Why?" asked Hermione.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come to the Burrow but it's no big deal. Harry's coming but it's cool," said Ron.

"I'm sorry Ron," apologized Hermione.

"No big deal. I should have asked you earlier," said Ron.

. & .

Hermione sat at a table in the Head Rooms. Today had been one of the best days in her life. Knowing that Draco was feeling better made her feel like dancing. Just then the door opened and a tired looking Draco walked in.

"Hermione," he nearly screamed, 'I can't take it anymore. I'm already breaking."

Hermione pushed her chair back and ran to Draco in horror.

"Draco," she breathed as she led him to a chair. She loosened his tie and took off his robes.

"Hermione, I feel pressured about the match. I need that knife to feel relaxed,' said Draco helplessly staring at Hermione.

Hermione shook her vigorously and hugged Draco hard. "I understand Draco, I know the aftermath is hard. But you can't return to it. Talk to me; relive your strain by telling me. Yell at me, hit me whatever calms you down."

"I would never hit you," said Draco his voice low as he pulled Hermione's chin so he was looking into her eyes. Hermione blushed at their close contact and looked down.

"Why are you stressed?" asked Hermione softly.

"We're playing Gryffindor after Christmas. You know how good they are," said Draco passionately waving his hands around. "They have Potter! We've never won against them. All the pressure is on me. If I don't catch the snitch then I know we'll lose. I don't care if we win or lose; I just want to beat Potter once by catching the snitch. It would mean so much to me."

"Just try your hardest," said Hermione consolingly. "You should be proud that you even have the guts to go against him. I know you'll be great. Did you know that the seekers on the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams feigned sickness when they were playing Gryffindor?"

Draco laughed as she stood up. "You serious?"

"Yes," she said laughing. "Are you going home for Christmas Draco?"

"No," said Draco looking relieved, "my dear father has a place he needs to go to. Thank God. Are you going home?"

"Yes," said Hermione quietly as she saw his face fall, "but I'll here with you."

"You would do that?" asked Draco his face lightening up.

"Of course I would!" exclaimed Hermione. "I'll send them an owl right now."

"Thank you Hermione," said Draco. "This means a lot to me."

"It's no big deal," said Hermione sweetly as she skipped towards her room.

. & .

"Bye Harry, bye Ron, bye Ginny," said Hermione kissing each of them on the cheek as they boarded the train.

"Aren't you coming?" said Harry confused.

"Crap," thought Hermione. Forcing a smile she answered. "My parents are going to come here personally to pick me up."

"Oh," said Harry. "See you after Christmas. Bye!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she walked back inside the castle and into the Heads Room. They had bought her lie. Over the next weeks to Christmas, Hermione and Draco became even closer. They would spent hours just chatting about random topics. Hermione thought she had never been happier in her life.

. & .

"IT"S CHRISTMAS!" yelled Hermione as she leapt out of bed. She ran out of bed, past the beautiful Christmas tree that had beautiful presents, and into Draco's room. She jumped on the bed and screamed.

"DRACO" she squealed, "GET UP!"

Draco groaned and Hermione suddenly became aware of the fact that he was only wearing a pair of green boxers and she was only dressed in a black nightie that went only about 7 inches below the swell of her butt.

"I'm coming," said Draco as he got out of bed and staggered towards the door.

Hermione jumped off the bed and walked with him to the Christmas tree. She yelled for excitement and plopped down next to her pile of presents. Draco laughed as he watched her antics. Sighing, he sat next to her and unwrapped his.

"Oh Hermione," gasped Draco when he opened his present. It was a beautiful Rolex watch with diamonds surrounding the circle. "You didn't have too."

"I wanted to," said Hermione shyly. "I had to get something expensive. I mean you're really rich."

"Hermione," said Draco grasping Hermione by her elbow and pulling her to him, "That's nothing. You could have given me a rose and it would mean more than everything my parents gave me. It would mean more than all the expensive gifts I got."

Hermione stared into Draco's eyes with shock; she never had thought he would so modest about his wealth. She looked down. Then she innocently offered him a red rose. Draco burst out laughing, as did Hermione. She leaned her head back and laughed with delight. Draco fingered the rose as he took in Hermione. She looked so beautiful and natural in her nightie. She didn't wear the 10 pounds of makeup that Pansy did and she managed to look five times as beautiful. He felt the sudden urge to drag the rose down her beautiful face and kiss her. He shook his head as Hermione disengaged herself from his arms.

"I hope you liked the watch though,' said Hermione as she grabbed the small gold box.

"I love it," answered Draco with apprehension. Hermione had just picked up the box with his present. He held his breath as she opened the jewelry box. Hermione gasped as she saw the single diamond shaped in a teardrop molded in platinum hang from a thin platinum chain.

"Oh, Draco," she sighed when she saw the card, "I love it. But this must have been very expensive."

Draco leaned forward and placed his hand on her mouth. "No amount of money could replace how much you have helped me these past weeks."

He gently took the necklace and fastened it around her necklace.

"It's 11 Hermione," he whispered sending shivers down her back. 'The lunch is in one hour; we should be getting ready."

Hermione nodded and got up, leaving her other presents lying in the wrapping paper.

An hour later Hermione stood ready in front of the door to the corridor. She was dressed in a pair of low-rise skintight black jeans and a soft skintight cashmere green sweater. The necklace Draco had given her glittered at her throat. Finally, Draco came out and walked to Hermione. His hormones skyrocketed when he saw her and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw him. He was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and had put on a light blue, light green, and white striped button up shirt over a thin undershirt. His hair was gelled and fell on his forehead.

"Shall we?" asked Draco holding the door open for Hermione.

"Thanks," answered Hermione as she walked out.

Side by side, Hermione and Draco walked through the corridors until they reached the Great Hall. Like the last years, there weren't many people at Hogwarts so there was one table set for 16 people. The 9 professors were sitting at the head and the students were settled around the other side. Nodding, the pair sat down side-by-side and continued talking. It was as if they were oblivious to everyone and everything around them.

"You know Severus," whispered Professor McGonaggal, 'I have never seen Mr. Malfoy so happy."

"I have never either," whispered Professor Snape incredulously, "Miss Granger must work magic. He's never looked so happy or so relaxed. You should see them in Potions. They're always chatting, laughing and joking around."

"I never thought that it would be Miss Granger who could touch him that much," whispered Professor McGonaggal as she stared at the happy pair opposite her.

"But I fear," said Professor Snape as he leaned towards Professor McGonaggal, "that there will be trouble with Miss Granger's friends about her relationship with Mr. Malfoy."

He didn't know how right he was.

* * *

_A/N: Please Review! Same message as last time. The next chapter will be HUGE! Very very very very HUGE! TONS are going to happen._


	8. Victory and Defeat

**Hidden Pain**

_Chapter 8: Victory and Defeat_

Slowly, the weeks passed by. Soon it was time for the students to come back and resume classes. Two weeks after Christmas, students started arriving back from their visits. The castle was no longer empty and quiet. Classes resumed and students were put through the tedious grind that was given the weeks before break. Teachers doled out projects and assignments by the dozen, and students were kept on their feet working. But in spite of it, the castle was full of students chattering and bustling around talking about the newest event on the calendar. That was the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

As usual, tensions heightened between the two opposing teams. Harry needed to be escorted to class by his team in case a Slytherin tried to knock him out cold. In the library, Madam Pince had thrown out a Gryffindor and Slytherin student for dueling. The tension was at its breaking point. This was the match, which would decide which team would make it to the Quidditch final. Slytherin was already an automatic for defeating Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. But Gryffindor had lost Harry who was sick during the match to Ravenclaw and thus the match. In order for them to qualify, Gryffindor needed to beat Slytherin. Slytherin, of course, did not want to face Gryffindor in the final, so it was vital to beat them. If they won, they would face Ravenclaw instead, which would be a much easier team to beat.

Draco's anxiety and tension were increasing as the days went by. Of course, he never showed his feelings to anyone but Hermione. Not only was the Quidditch match resting upon his shoulders but the meeting between him and his father was coming the following weekend. His blood throbbed for the knife but it slowly lessened and with Hermione's help, he found that didn't need the knife anymore.

. & .

Finally the day of the Quidditch match arrived. Hermione awoke feeling a burden placed upon her shoulders. She couldn't sit in the Slytherin stands for fear that the Gryffindors would think she was betraying them but she wanted to support Draco. She didn't know what or who to choose. She wanted Draco to win, but Harry was her best friend. And if Gryffindor won, then she would have to endure the Final Match as well between the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Biting her lip, she took her shower, changed into her Gryffindor robes, and then sat on the couch deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" asked Draco as he walked out of his room in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I don't know," wailed Hermione. "I want you to win but Harry is my best friend. And I want Gryffindor to qualify but then I'll be torn again at the Final Match."

Draco sat down. "I know how you feel," he said.

"I just hope that Gryffindor qualifies. I mean Harry wants to win the Cup in his captainship. But I want you to catch the snitch against him. I guess this will be a World Cup scenario again," said Hermione laughing forcibly. "But I have faith in you Draco. I know that you can beat Harry."

"Thanks Hermione," said Draco sincerely. "Are you coming to the Great Hall for breakfast?"

"Yeah," said Hermione standing up. "I have to cheerlead for the Gryffindor team. Can you believe it? I can't believe they're making us do that. Slytherins are doing it too."

Draco had a fleeting image of Hermione in a short skirt and a tank top. Shaking his head quickly, he picked up his broom. "Think of the match," he said to himself.

"Let's go," said Hermione grabbing her uniform.

Together the pair walked down but Draco stopped a few feet from the entrance.

"There's my team," said Draco. 'I think they want to speak with me."

Hermione nodded as Draco walked towards his team. Hermione continued towards the Great Hall when she heard a comment that made her stop.

"If you don't catch the snitch, you're off the team. I'm going to tell your father," snarled the captain.

Hermione turned swiftly, her blood boiling. She felt as if an electric current had passed through her. She caught sight of Draco's face, which was pale, and he was shivering slightly. Hermione stomped up to the huddle and pushed her way to the captain.

"Listen up," she snarled pointing her finger in the captain's face. "Don't you EVER say that again. I think you should be proud that he even has enough strength to face Harry. Instead of reassuring him, you threaten him. What kind of a bloody captain are you? You don't deserve to be captain at all."

Hermione flung her hand back and slapped him with all the strength she could muster. The team gasped with shock as he fell back on the steps. Hermione grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him to the entrance of the Great Hall.

"That jerk," snarled Hermione her eyes flashing. "You shouldn't put up with that garbage. That slap should put him in his spot."

"I think it should," said Draco his eyes twinkling, "I remember how bad my cheek hurt when you slapped me in the third year."

Hermione blushed and then burst out laughing.

"Good luck," said Hermione. "Even if you don't win, I'll still admire you. And don't take crap from that captain of yours."

Hermione leant up, kissed Draco on his cheek and then vanished into the Great Hall. Draco was staring in shock behind her even as she left. He felt his cheek that was still tingling from the contact of her lips. Then he turned towards his teammates and strode up to them confidently full of energy.

"Ok team," said the captain trying to regain his confidence, "let's go inside, get some breakfast and then kick some Gryffindor's butt."

"Hey Lavender," said Hermione sliding in. "Where's the team?"

"They're going to be coming down in a minute," said Lavender buttering her toast.

Just then, the door banged open and the Slytherin team marched in. Immediately the table on the far left started cheering and clapping. As Draco passed he caught Hermione's eyes who winked and gave him a thumbs up. He gave her a quick smile. A few minutes later, the door banged open again and the Gryffindor team strode in with all its regality. This time the Gryffindor table stood up and brought the ceiling down with it's cheering and stamping while the Slytherin table hissed. Ginny, Harry, and Ron strode next to Hermione dressed in their Quidditch uniforms and sat next to Hermione.

"Do you have your uniform?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," complained Hermione rolling her eyes. "Are you trying to make me look like a showgirl?"

"No!" said Harry throwing Hermione an "are you crazy" look and helping himself to toast and bacon.

"Hey Harry, there are only about 15 minutes before the match starts you know?' Do you really want to throw up your breakfast?" asked Hermione sensibly.

"Whatever," said Harry shrugging his shoulders. "I won't."

"Ok then," said Hermione standing up. "Well I'm going to be in the Gryffindor locker room. Parvati and Lavender have already left. Good luck."

Hermione walked swiftly across the lawn and to the Quidditch field. She went down to the changing rooms where Parvati and Lavender had already changed into their cheerleading suits. Hermione smiled and then changed into her own cheerleading outfit. She pulled out her wand and straightened it the way Ginny had told her at the Ball. She then applied light brown eye shadow and rose colored lipstick. She then slipped on her Muggle tennis shoes called Keds and scrutinized herself in the mirror. The shirt was maroon and gold and went mid thigh. Hermione tried pulling it down but to no avail. Luckily, there were skintight shorts underneath. The shirt was a tank top with a gold stripe on the bottom of the shirt. On the front was written _Lions. _Hermione sighed and then went out to the field and took her position between Lavender and Parvati. This was as best as it was going to get.

Across the field were the Slytherin cheerleaders; Pansy and two other Slytherins Hermione didn't know. They were dressed in green and silver cheerleading outfits. Soon the stadium began to fill up with students. The majority was dressed in gold and scarlet and holding signs such as _Support the Lions _and _Lions for the Final Match. _Finally, the crowd settled and the speaker, Zacharias Smith took his position with the megaphone with Professor McGonaggal watching him closely.

"Sonorous," he muttered.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen," he boomed. "Welcome to the Quidditch match today between Gryffindor and Slytherin. If Gryffindor wins they will move to the cup but whether Slytherin loses or wins, they will advance to the Final."

"And here is the Gryffindor team," said Zacharias sweeping his hand in a sweeping motion as a line of Gryffindors came out. Three fourths of the crowd went wild as the Gryffindor team took their positions. Rolling here eyes, Hermione waved her pom poms and screamed with the rest. How she hated cheerleading.

"And here is the Slytherin team," announced Zacharias as a line of Slytherins came out from the opposite side of the field. The rest of the crowd went wild and the cheerleaders went crazy.

"And here are the captains Damien Flint from Slytherin and Harry Potter from Gryffindor shaking hands."

Harry and Damien shook hands in one quick jerk. Harry's eyes which were as cold as ice stared as he took in his opposition.

"And Madam Hooch take out the quaffle and it's up! Let the game begin," yelled Zacharias.

"Bell grabs the quaffle passes it to Weasley and she's off towards the goal post. Nice swerve from a bludger! Pass to Bell as Weasley moves ahead. Now she's flying towards the goal post; Goyle is on the ready. Bell fakes out keeper, passes the quaffle to Weasley who slams it through the far left one. 10 points to Gryffindor!"

Automatically, Hermione started cheering though her heart wasn't in it. She was scanning the sky for Draco. Finally, she caught sight of him on the top of the players his eyes darting around looking out for the snitch. She then saw Harry who was keeping a close eye on Draco. She knew that he was seeing if he saw any sign of the snitch.

The minutes passed by but the snitch was nowhere to be found.

"And there's another goal for Gryffindor. That's 210-50 Gryffindor," yelled Zacharias.

And then Draco saw it. Sparkling, shimmering against the Slytherin goalposts was the snitch. Hermione's breath came in sharply as she saw Draco racing towards the Slytherin goalposts; he had finally caught sight of the snitch. But Harry was not to be undaunted; he had seen "the" look on Draco's face and had taken off behind Draco. Draco's broomstick was no match for Harry's Firebolt however. Soon Harry had caught up and had a slight edge on the Slytherin. Holding her hands to her heart, Hermione watched as Draco scooted forward on his broomstick until he was on the very edge. They were neck to neck now. Hermione watched in horror as Draco reached a hand out, knocked Harry's out of the way, and grasped the snitch jumping off his broom in process. Hermione gasped and here eyes grew wide. But Draco managed to grab his broom with his other hand and fell on the ground. Hermione's breath caught in her throat as he lay there for a moment. But then a second later, he stood up dusted the dust from the snitch and held it up euphorically.

"And Draco Malfoy has caught the snitch! 210 to 200 Gryffindor. Draco caught the snitch but Harry's team still wins. And both teams will have a final face off in 2 months! This is Zacharias Smith signing off!"

The Gryffindor supporters erupted in cheers, as did the Gryffindor team. But the Slytherins cheered in their stands for Draco. The teams landed as Hermione threw her pompoms in the air. Her face flushed with happiness, she ran towards the mass on the lawn.

Harry watched as Hermione came running towards them on the lawn. Thinking she was coming to see him, he moved towards her but she ran right past him. In shock, his mouth fell open when he saw what happened next.

"Draco," she screamed as she caught sight of him. Draco turned around and his face lit up when he saw Hermione. He moved away from the rest of his team and in the next second, he had swept her in his arms. Hermione was hugging him hard around his neck as tears of happiness fell down her face.

After a few minutes, he gently put her down on the grass. Blushing, Hermione smoothed her hair and dress and looked into Draco's face. She had never seen him so happy before and it sent a feeling of joy through her body. His eyes were sparkling and he had a huge smile on his face.

"I think you should change," said Hermione laughing. His robes were covered with dust and his hair was mussed. "I'll be there in the dorm in a few minutes. I should congratulate the Gryffindor team."

Draco nodded, the happiness not leaving his face as he trudged back to the castle. Hermione ran to the mob around Harry and the rest of the team. She pushed her way to the middle of the crowd.

"Ginny," she squealed. 'You were so good!'

"Thanks Hermione," yelled Ginny. "Hey, we're having a party in the Gryffindor room tonight right now. Come! It'll be really fun!"

"Ok," said Hermione excitedly. She caught sight of Harry and pushed her way to him.

"Hi Harry," she said. Harry turned around and his face slightly fell but he pushed it back.

"You were great," said Hermione earnestly. "You're a great captain Harry. I don't think anyone else could have molded a new team as good as you."

"Aw thanks Hermione," said Harry as he hugged her. "Did Ginny tell you we're having a party?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "I have to go change but I'll be there!"

Smiling Hermione ran up the stairs to the castle. Everything went the way she had hoped; Draco had caught the snitch and the Gryffindor team had qualified. Jogging, Hermione reached the Heads Rooms and scrambled into the room. Draco had changed and was sitting on the sofa staring at his hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"We have a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow don't we?" asked Draco.

"Yeah," said Hermione slowly. Then it crashed on her.

"Oh no Draco," she breathed scrambling to the sofa. "It's your initiation tomorrow isn't it? You told me that he changed it to the first Hogsmeade after break. That's tomorrow! What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to meet him," said Draco.

"What? You don't want to become a Death Eater. Then why are you going to meet him?" asked Hermione incredulously.

"Oh, I'm going to meet him for sure. But only to tell him what a rotten horrible scumbag he is," said Draco fiercely.

"Oh Draco, that's great! I'll come too," said Hermione happily.

"You? Are you crazy? My father will kill you," said Draco in disbelief.

"I want to be with you so he doesn't try any Dark Magic," said Hermione darkly. "I've made up my mind. I'm going."

She got up without another backwards look and went into her bedroom to change. After a few minutes, she came out dressed in a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and pair of jeans.

"They're holding a party in the Gryffindor common room," explained Hermione when she saw Draco's confusion. "Want to come?"

Draco laughed bitterly. "I bet they'd murder me if I walked in. But thanks for the offer. I have a party in the Slytherin common room. But I'll be happy to walk with you."

"That'd be nice," said Hermione.

Smiling, Draco got off the couch and left with Hermione. As Hermione led him to her dorm, the couple started talking.

"Draco, do you wish to see Dumbledore about your problem?" asked Hermione seriously.

"No," said Draco adamantly.

"He can protect you," said Hermione softly.

"Please Hermione, I'd rather it stay a secret," said Draco.

"But," started Hermione.

"If need be I'll tell him. But please keep it a secret until then," asked Draco his eyes pleading to her.

Hermione sighed as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"I guess I should," admitted Hermione, "Don't worry Draco. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks," said Draco.

He leaned over and quickly kissed Hermione on the cheek.

"Have fun," said Draco as Hermione walked in the portrait door.

"Thanks," said Hermione blushing profusely as she shut the door.

. & .

The next day dawned bright and sunny but Draco and Hermione woke up with a heavy weight on their shoulders. Silently, they passed Mr. Filch's check and entered Hogsmeade.

"Where are you supposed to meet your father," asked Hermione as they strolled down the cobblestone path.

"In the shrieking shack in 20 minutes," said Draco anxiously. Hermione sensing his nervousness slipped her hand into his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"I think we should go right now then," said Hermione tightly. "Is it only going to be your father?"

"Yes," answered Draco. "He's supposed to put the Dark Mark on me today."

Hermione nodded silently as they reached the spooky house. Hermione shivered as she and Draco climbed over the fence. After making sure that no one was looking, they dashed across the lawn and into the first landing.

"My father will be here any minute," whispered Draco urgently. "Hide behind the bookcase."

Hermione hid herself behind the bookcase as Draco waited. The tension was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife. After a few minutes, a loud crack filled the room.

"Draco," said the cold voice of Lucius.

"Father," said Draco standing up and nodding curtly.

"I am pleased to see that you have followed my instructions. Is there any new news that you have found out for his majesty?" asked Lucius coldly.

"Yes," said Draco.

"Good," said Lucius slowly. "And what is that?"

"I do not wish to join Voldemort," said Draco bravely. Hermione felt like hugging Draco when he said that. But she remained squatted behind the bookshelf with bated breath.

"And is this your final decision?" asked Lucius turning away.

"Yes," said Draco.

"Fine. CRUCIO!" snarled Lucius.

Caught unawares, Draco fell to the wooden floor screaming. Hermione gasped in horror and shock as he fell down. Lucius then proceeded to kick him cursing him all the while. He started to turn around hoping and praying to God that he could get out without more pain. He wasn't lucky however. Just as he turned around his father yelled and cursed him with the Crucio. Draco yelled out in agony and fell once more. He felt as if a thousand knives were piercing into him. His body felt as if it was on fire. His father kept the curse going.

Hermione couldn't take it any longer.

"Stop," she cried as she ran out and pushed Lucius breaking the curse.

"Oh, so it was you who forced my son to become like this. You filthy Mudblood," roared Lucius as he directed the curse at her. But Hermione deftly blocked it.

"Oh so you think you can compete with me," snarled Lucius as he threw a curse at her. This time Hermione wasn't so lucky. Hermione gasped as she felt a searing pain on her wand arm. She looked at her arm and gasped; there was a huge slash down her arm and her robes had already been soaked with blood. Crying with pain, she stumbled as the room around her became hazy.

"That'll teach you to mess with me," roared Lucius as raised his arm to perform the slashing movement that Anton Dolohov had performed 2 years ago.

Unable to move Hermione simply stood paralyzed as the curse came at her. She closed her eyes waiting for the curse to hit her. But at the last moment, she felt a body slam her sideways onto the floor. Draco had managed to get up and had taken the curse himself.

"I'll deal with you later Mudblood," sneered Lucius. "My lord calls me."

Hermione stared at the body of Draco as he lay sprawled on the floor. Hermione collapsed next to him sobbing, as she clutched him. He didn't seem to be breathing.

"Draco," she screamed.

Frantically, Hermione grabbed Draco by his waist hard. Summoning enough strength. Hermione shouted "Hogwarts Grounds."

The next second, she was in Hogwarts grounds with a bloody Draco in her arms. Tears running down her cheeks, Hermione grabbed Draco and pulled him across the ground and into the castle. Hermione fell to the floor in the deserted castle but the thought of Draco kept her going. Finally, after falling down several times, she banged open the door to the infirmary and Madam Pomfrey came running out and then gasped at the sight.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy," she gasped.

Sobbing, Hermione slumped further onto the ground as Madam Pomfrey ran towards them. As she hit the floor, the only word that came out was "Draco' as everything faded into black.

. & .

Hermione moaned as she came around. She felt as if people were playing drums on her head. Groaning, she pushed herself up and winced a stinging sensation overtook her right arm. Glancing down, she pulled up the thin white cloth of her robe and saw the cut that Lucius had made.

"Oh Miss Granger," said Madam Pomfrey happily as she came. "I'm happy to see that you're up and well."

"How long have I been asleep?" asked Hermione.

"You apparated here 2 days ago. You've been asleep ever since," said Madam Pomfrey.

"When can I go?" asked Hermione anxiously.

"You can go today Miss Granger. I've given you blood transplants to replenish all the blood you lost as a result on the curse. I simply have to move the flesh wound," said Madam Pomfrey.

Madam Pomfrey drew back the sleeve of Hermione's robe and took out a bottle of green liquid. She smoothed it on causing Hermione to wince and then tapped her wand against the cut. It immediately vanished.

"Where's Draco?" asked Hermione urgently. "Is he okay?'

"Ah, well Miss Granger, that I am unsure of," said Madam Pomfrey slowly.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione her eyes wide, her heart beginning to beat fast as she got out of bed.

"He was hit with the purple flame. It was the same one that hit you two years ago but there was no counter curse to stop the true damage this time. It entered his chest. He's in grave condition Miss Granger," said Madam Pomfrey sadly.

"Where is he?" asked Hermione frantically. "Where is he? I have to see him."

"Miss Granger," started Madam Pomfrey but Hermione took off across the infirmary barging through all doors.

"I have to know where he is!" screamed Hermione going hysterical.

Reluctantly, Madam Pomfrey pointed at the door on the far left and Hermione immediately ran into it. She gasped in shock as she saw Draco. His face was pale and his breathing was very shallow. Hermione gingerly walked over and gently pulled back the covers. Hermione nearly fainted at the sight. Covering her heart, her eyes filled with tears as she saw the thick purple scar that went one fourth into his chest. Unable to take it, she ran out of the hospital and into the hall tears falling freely down her face.

"Hermione!" called Harry as Hermione neared the Heads room. "There you are. I've been looking for you for nearly 2 days. Where have you been? Why are you crying?"

"Harry," gasped Hermione. "It's Draco. He's hurt. Oh Harry."

Harry grasped Hermione by her arms as he led her to a bench in the hallways.

"Tell me what happened," said Harry.

"Harry, I went with Draco to see his father. I can't tell you. You can't repeat any of this to anyone. Do you remember the curse that Dolohov used on me 2 years ago?" asked Hermione.

Harry nodded.

"Lucius used that on me. But Draco pushed me aside and took it himself," sobbed Hermione. "He might not live. It's my entire fault Harry. What am I going to do?"

Harry stared in shock as Hermione collapsed against his shoulder in tears. He felt as if he had been slapped in the face.

"Hermione," he said lifting her tearstained face. "Be by his side. That's the only thing you can do. Sick people recover more if they have friends by their side."

Hermione sniffed; "You think so?"

"I know so," laughed Harry. "Go on."

"Thank you Harry," said Hermione as she ran towards the Heads' room.

Hermione quickly changed into a light blue spaghetti strap dress and a pair of white flip-flops and ran back to the infirmary. Ignoring Madam Pomfrey, she ran into Draco's room and sat next to his bed. Hermione gently took his hand and rubbed it with hers.

"I'm sorry Draco," she breathed, "I'm so sorry." A single tear dripped down her face as she reached for her wand.

Waving it gently, she produced a dozen pink roses and a card. Letting go of Draco's hand, she wrote a message and left it on his bedside table next to the vase of flowers.

"I'll be back Draco," she said. "Please wake up. Please wake up."

Hermione wiped the tears that had fallen and walked out of the room.

"Miss Granger," said a voice behind her.

Hermione turned to see Professor Dumbledore standing behind her. He was carrying something in his hands and the twinkle had vanished from his eyes.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" he asked gravely.

"I can't," answered Hermione softly.

"Not even for the safety of Mr. Malfoy?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

Hermione bit her lip. "I'm sorry Professor Dumbledore," she said sincerely. "The only thing I can do is ask Draco to confide in you. I can't betray him like that. I promised to secrecy."

Professor Dumbledore surveyed her over his lenses and smiled. "I'm glad to see that Mr. Malfoy had found a friend that he can count on," he said warmly. "Madam Pomfrey saw how distraught you were on he subject of Mr. Malfoy so she asked me to deliver this message. When you ran out of the hospital, she ran some checks on Draco. It is not clear if he will come through but we will know soon."

Hermione nodded as she slowly turned towards the door.

"Oh Miss Granger," said Professor Dumbledore, "This is for you."

Hermione turned around and took the paper that he was holding out to her. It was the picture of her and Draco: the one where she nearly fell off the boxes. Hermione felt another wave of tears as she ran out of the hospital clutching the picture to her heart. Tears fell down her face as she ran past everyone to her room. She fell on her bed and cried. She rolled over and nestled herself under the blankets but all she could see was Draco's pale face and the cut on his chest. Hermione simply stared at the darkening ceiling her eyes red and blotchy. She didn't know how much time had passed or what was happening. All she knew that Draco was in danger and it was all her fault.

. & .

The next week passed by slowly. Hermione placed the picture on the table next to the sofa in a silver frame. Often while she sat and did homework or attempted to do, she would lose herself in the pictures. Even the teachers were noticing a change with Hermione. She was constantly close to tears in Potions and Transfiguration. In one class, she had run out in tears when a Slytherin had asked her where Draco was. Every morning and evening Hermione went to the infirmary and spoke to Draco. One day she went as usual and ran out of the room.

"Draco's gone. Oh my god! Where is he?" cried Hermione frantically.

"Here," said a voice behind her.

Hermione swirled around and who was in front of her but Draco Malfoy. He had lost weight and he was still pale. The cut on his chest had healed nicely but there would always be a scar left. Hermione's eyes filled with tears and she ran to him and threw her arms around him carefully not to put any pressure on his chest. Slowly, Draco wrapped his arms around her waist. He had never had anyone who cared this much about him. Soon, Hermione drew back and smiled tearfully.

"I'm sorry Draco,' said Hermione softly. "Did you read my card?"

"Yes," said Draco as Hermione flushed, 'It was the prettiest and most meaningful card anyone had given me."

"Can you leave here?" asked Hermione eagerly.

"Yes," said Draco. 'I just got my check up done by Madam Pomfrey."

"That's great," said Hermione. "You've lost too much weight. You should come to dinner."

"No I can't," said Draco. 'I have to eat very light. Only soup and your yummy coffee."

"You asking for something?" teased Hermione as they walked down the hall towards the Heads room.

"Maybe," smiled Draco mysteriously.

Hermione laughed as she led Draco to the sofa and wrapped in a blanket. She flicked her wand and the fireplace was filled with dancing orange and yellow flames. Hermione then made a cup of her coffee and handed it to Draco.

"Thanks," said Draco as Hermione wrapped herself in a blanket and sat next to him.

"No problem. You know what? You need something filling though. Have that soup," said Hermione as she got up.

But just as she walked towards the portrait door, it opened and Harry walked in.

"Hi Hermione," said Harry walking towards them with 2 trays. "I thought you would stay here and I went to the hospital to see how Malfoy was doing but they said they had left. You haven't been eating much so I decided to bring you something. Sit back down."

Draco's eyes softened which had first hardened as he sipped his drink. Harry handed one tray to Hermione.

"They told me that you needed to eat light so I just brought you the soup," said Harry gently setting the other tray on Draco's lap.

"Thanks Potter," said Draco softly as he took a spoonful.

Hermione curled back in her blanket as Harry sat across them. Soon, Hermione had finished her plate and was watching Draco eating his soup. Because his chest was healing, he drank it very slowly.

"By the way," said Harry, who was trying to be nice to Draco for Hermione's sake. He had seen her state the week when he was ill, "Good job at that Quidditch match."

"Thanks," said Draco his eyes lighting up. " It was tough; I had the weight of the team of my shoulders."

Harry smiled. "I know how that feels," he said more to himself.

"Draco, you're taking too long to eat that," complained Hermione as she took the bowl and spoon gently.

Harry watched closely as Hermione gently fed Draco with care. He saw the concern that was etched in every curve of her face. When a little fell on his neck, she quickly wiped it for fear that it burn him. He was sure now; Draco and Hermione were in love. Hermione didn't know but he had been watching them closely at Hogwarts. He had been skeptical at the Winter Ball but then it slowly began to emerge. He had seen the two of them at work in Potions and Transfiguration. At first it was the mere camaraderie that was visible but soon, he saw different feelings beginning to emerge. He had seen Draco staring at Hermione while she took notes. Similarly, he had seen Hermione stand up for Draco at the Quidditch match in the hallway. He had seen the kiss and Draco's shock. And the way Hermione had behaved and looked the week before had clinched it. Hermione was oblivious to it but he knew that she loved him. She was staring at Draco the same way Ginny stared at him. He was 100 sure; he just didn't know how to break it to Ron. He had to tell Ginny.

"Harry," said Hermione, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah,' said Harry shaking himself. "I'm fine. Can I bring anything else?"

"No," said Draco as he finished his soup. "Thanks for everything."

"No problem,' said Harry as he took the empty dishes and waved his wand. Immediately they were sparkling clean. "Well I'll see you guys around."

"Bye," they said as Harry slowly walked to the door. But as he passed the sofa, he caught sight of the picture Hermione had framed. He quietly took it out of the frame as he left. He needed it as proof for Ginny.

. & .

"Hey Ginny," said Harry holding the picture behind him. "Can I talk to you?"

Ginny looked up from her book and nodded her forehead creased with worry. "Yes," she said slowly. "What's wrong?"

Harry pulled Ginny so they were sitting on a sofa facing the steps to the Boys Dorm. He carefully looked around him; the room was empty.

"Harry, are you breaking up with me?" asked Ginny seriously.

Harry stared at her shocked. "No!' he exclaimed.

Ginny relaxed as she smiled. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Ginny, Hermione loves Malfoy," he said.

Ginny stared at Harry here eyes wide. "Don't joke."

"I'm serious," he said holding out the picture. "You should have seen them this evening. Hermione was looking at him the way I look at you. Hermione doesn't know it though."

Ginny observed the picture. Her eyes grew wide. "But how?'

"Hermione didn't go to her parents' house for Christmas," Harry said.

"How do you know that?" asked Ginny her eyes wide.

"I heard Dumbledore talking about them being at Christmas lunch,' said Harry desperately. "And you should have seen her this past week. That clinched it. She was distraught."

"Look Harry, are you worried about Hermione?" asked Ginny seriously.

"No! I know that she can handle herself. But I'm worried about Ron. How's he going to take the news?" said Harry worriedly.

"He'll be angry," said Ginny worriedly. "After all you and Ron have been enemies with Malfoy for so long. Actually, I was suspicious when Hermione was staring at Draco. But she told me that she didn't like him."

"No Ginny," said Harry slowly. "I don't think she liked him initially. Remember Hermione said that she knows a secret of Draco's. That must have brought them together. But in the process of helping him, she fell in love with him. I know it Ginny. They will get together sooner or later. Ron will find out someday."

"Look Harry," said Ginny slowly scooting closer to Harry. "I really don't know what we can do. Let them come together when they do. And then we can tell Ron."

Harry shrugged and frowned. "But now that there's no one here," breathed Ginny, "Maybe you can love me."

Little did they know that someone had heard every word they had said in the shadows.

Harry grinned as he placed his lips on hers. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck as she brought him down upon her. As Harry and Ginny lay on the couch, kissing heatedly, the picture floated out of Ginny's hand onto the carpet. A few minutes later, a hand picked it up. His brown eyes burning with fury, he snatched the picture and swept silently out the portrait door and towards Hermione's room. He knew the password; he had forced it out of Ginny.

. & .

"Thanks for everything Hermione" said Draco as Hermione walked out in a midnight blue long-sleeved nightie that went down to her ankles

"No problem," smiled Draco as she sat next to him. 'How are you feeling?"

"Much better," said Draco. His hand brushed by Hermione's waist who giggled and squirmed away.

"Don't touch me there," she laughed. "I'm ticklish."

"Oh are we?" smirked Draco his eyes full of mischief.

He got up and poked his finger sin her waist. Squealing, Hermione got off and ran around the room yelling as Draco followed her. Finally Draco cornered her and as he walked closer Hermione's eyes fell on the pile of cotton from the Christmas tree. She laughed as flung it on him. Draco yelped as he bent down and grabbed some for himself. Soon cotton balls obscured the air and in the confusion Draco grabbed Hermione around the waist. Laughing uncontrollably, she squirmed careful not to hit his chest until she fell on the sofa, Draco on top of her his hands and around her waist. As the last of the cotton fell, Draco realized that he was on top Hermione and that their noses were less than an inch apart. Hermione swallowed hard as she stared in Draco's eyes. Her hands were wrapped around Draco's neck. Gently, his eyes still pinned on her, Draco reached down and moved a strand of hair that was resting on her cheek. Breathing shallowly and her heartbeat increasing, Hermione closed her eyes as Draco slowly leaned down. His breath was warm on her lips. Slowly his breath came closer until…

BANG!

The door to the room burst open. Hermione's eyes jerked open and Draco leapt back but the damage was already done. Ron was staring at them fire shooting out of his eyes.

"I WAS RIGHT," he bellowed. "YOU'RE INVOLVED WITH HIM! I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP."

Hermione got off the sofa and walked towards him. "Listen Ron," she said shakily.

"I CAN'T BELIVE IT! YOU WOULD CHOOSE THIS GIT OVER ME," roared Ron. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THAT!"

"Ron, can we," said Hermione

"FORGET IT HERMIONE," yelled Ron. "FORGET IT! YOU'RE NO LONGER MY FRIEND! BUT YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"

With that, Ron stormed out of the door. A tear rolled down Hermione's face as she walked shakily over to the couch. Draco hugged her as the tears came fast. She wrapped her arms around him unable to say something. He held her until her breathing became stable and even.

. & .

Hermione moaned and stretched as the first rays of sunlight hit her face. She opened her eyes blearily and looked around her. It took a few minutes for it to sink in that she was in the living room. She saw someone stir next to her and jerked her head around. She saw Draco Malfoy dozing next to her and smiled as she disengaged herself. Almost immediately, her smile vanished as she remembered last night's events. Biting her lip, she glanced at the clock and saw that it was 7.

"Draco," whispered Hermione tapping him on the shoulder. "Class starts in an hour."

Draco lifted his head and slowly opened his eyes. He lifted the comforter off him and got off the sofa stretching his arm. He smiled at Hermione who smiled shyly back.

"I think I should put your medicine on first,' said Hermione as she grabbed the bottle of green liquid and a swab.

Draco pulled off his shirt as Hermione dabbed some of the foul smelling liquid on the cotton. She gently ran it along the cut causing Draco to wince as it bubbled and stung. Hermione softly blew on it until she had finished swabbing the entire cut.

"Listen Hermione," said Draco clearing his throat, "I'm sorry about last night."

Hermione blushed as she recalled the close incident on the sofa.

"It's alright," she said. "I'll try pacifying Ron during breakfast."

But it wasn't going to be easy. Not even close.

. & .

Hermione and Draco walked into the Great Hall together and immediately the hall fell silent. Hermione and Draco looked at each other baffled but ignored it. Silently, they walked over to their respective tables. Confused Hermione helped herself to food trying to ignore that everyone's eyes were on her. After what seemed like an eternity, the Great Hall became relatively noisy.

"So Hermione," said Lavender smirking, "How good is Malfoy?"

"Excuse me?" asked Hermione staring at Lavender revoltingly.

"I heard that Malfoy paid you to sleep with him," said Lavender lightly.

"Excuse me. Where did you hear that?" said Hermione standing up her hands on her hips.

"Parvati told me. She said someone had told her," said Lavender.

Hermione got up and ran over to Parvati who was about to leave the Great Hall.

"Parvati," said Hermione grabbing her by the arm.

"Don't touch me, Hermione," snarled Parvati wrenching her arm out. "You really had me fooled. I thought you of all people wouldn't take money to sleep with someone. Is that how you got all your grades?

Hermione stared after Parvati feeling like she got slapped. Lowering her head, she quickly wiped the tears that fallen from her eyes. She felt someone touch her arm and looked up; it was Draco.

"Hermione," he whispered urgently, "People are saying that I paid you to sleep with me. Who in the world made all this garbage up? When I meet them they will get hell from me."

Draco's face was livid and he was breathing hard. His hands were clenched in fists and he was shooting daggers from his eyes. Hermione laid a reassuring hand on his arm.

"You were right Ron," yelled Neville from the Gryffindor table.

Draco turned around swiftly and strode to the Gryffindor table. The table of professors looked up as Draco strode over to the table and grabbed Neville by his collar. He pulled him off the table and pulled him close until he was eye to eye with him.

"Who told you that I was sleeping with Hermione?' roared Draco shaking Neville.

The Great Hall fell silent as his voice echoed throughout the hall. Teachers stood up but Dumbledore waved them down. Severus Snape was busily watching them with anticipation and excitement.

"Ron, R-ron told me," squeaked Neville.

Hermione gasped as she turned to face Ron. Here eyes filled with tears and soon they began to fall. "Ron?" she whispered. She never imagined that he would ever ruin her reputation in such a cheap way. Draco's face filled with hate as he went to the other side. Instead of looking scared Ron stood up and faced Draco. Hermione was too sad and shocked to do anything.

"Weasley," he growled as he reached him. "What in the bloody hell were you thinking?"

"She chose you," yelled back Ron, "She chose a jerk like you who's been a bastard to her for 7 years over me!'

"So you called her a whore!" yelled Draco who was losing control, "You know extremely well that we haven't done anything."

"Oh yeah," roared Ron, "Then why was she here during Christmas. And why were you guys so close this year!"

Draco hushed for a second; he didn't want to disperse his secrets.

"See," yelled Ron triumphantly, "He admits it. I win!"

"Alright," hissed Draco, "I'll tell you. But not to disprove you; only to protect Hermione from your slanderous comments and to return to her reputation. You want to know why? This is why!"

Draco pushed up his sleeve and thrust it in Ron's face who jumped back.

"Yes, Weasley," growled Draco, "That's why. Just because she wanted to get me off the need for my knife, she helped me. She became the only true friend I've had. And you messed it up."

"It doesn't matter," growled Ron though he had calmed down. "She chose you! You've been so rude to her for 6 years! You were right; she is a Mudblood."

Hermione gasped as she felt Ron's comment slice into her like a knife. She started walking quickly towards the fighting boys her eyes trained on Ron. The entire Great Hall gasped, as Draco's eyes became slits.

"You did not call her that," hissed Draco.

"I just did," said Ron smirking, "what are you going to do about it."

"This," yelled Draco and he pulled back a hand to punch Ron. But Ron caught it halfway and pulled back a hand to punch Malfoy aiming straight for his chest.

"NO!" yelled Hermione sprinting and pushing herself in front of Draco. Ron gasped as his fist collided with Hermione's chest. Yelling, she fell back on the ground. As her head hit the marble floor, she slumped against the floor before all faded into blankness.

Draco shook his fist loose as Ginny and Harry ran to Hermione's body. But before he could react, Ron had sent a punch towards his face. But only a few inches from his nose, a hand appeared from nowhere grabbed Ron's hand. Ron's eyes widened as Harry's face slowly came beside Draco's. His jaw was quivering with anger and his green eyes were burning with fury. Draco stared in shock as Harry pushed Ron's hand so forcefully that he fell on the ground. The Great Hall gasped as Harry took out his wand and pointed it at Ron.

"Don't you ever, I mean ever do that again," said Harry coldly every syllable full of fury, his eyes full of fury. The magic was so strong that Draco could feel it radiating off him. The Great Hall looked shocked at Harry's robes started swirling even though there was no wind. For the first time, Ron's eyes flickered with fear.

Harry pocketed his wand as Draco knelt next to Hermione and gently lifted her in his arms. He carried her quickly to the infirmary as Madam Pomfrey scurried after him. The hall was quiet as they took in what they had just witnessed. Then Severus Snape stood up and opened his arms wide.

"I award 20 points to Mr. Malfoy for protecting Miss Granger's reputation. I also award 20 points to Mr. Potter for standing up for his friend and what he thought was right. And another 10 points to Miss Weasley," said Professor Snape.

"And I also award," said Professor Snape his voice hardening, "Mr. Weasley detention every Saturday for the rest of the year."

Ginny and Harry looked shocked for a second, till understanding flittered across their faces. They bowed to the Hall and then followed Hermione and Draco out of the Hall. Professor Snape sat down his eyes still hard.

And slowly every eye turned to the boy on the ground with their faces etched with disgust and repulsion.

* * *

_A/N;Thanks for the reviews! This is the biggest chapter of the story! 16 pages! 7,900 words! TONS will happen. I was thinking of breaking it into 2 chapters but then it would break the plan. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter! I was having a hard time of thinking of a title! LOLL._

_Hogwartsboyzrhot: Hi! Thanks for the review! And yes, my friend is feeling MUCH better! Thanks for asking!_

_Please Review! I hope you guys liked this chapter! Finished it in a day! Go me. LOLL. Anyways, same message as previous chapters._


	9. I Love You

**Hidden Pain  
**

_Chapter 9: I Love You_

The castle was filled with rumours for days after that. Students were talking about the way Draco had stood up for Hermione, the fact that Ron had called one of his best friends and whore and a Mudblood, and that Harry had sided with his arch enemy. Soon, the whole school including his sister had turned against Ron. Furthermore, Harry and Ginny had become rather close friends with Hermione and Draco. After Hermione recovered, whispers followed her as she walked from class to class. But she patiently ignored them until they slowly died away. Unlike her, Draco had taken to use his power rather violently to students who talked about him and Hermione. He was rather efficient in handing out detentions and taking away points. Soon, the mere presence of his in the hallways caused students to shut up for fear of being punished. In spite of Ron's slander, Hermione and Draco retained their relationship and to Harry and Ginny this incident brought them even closer together. It seemed to the student population that when he breathed in, she breathed out.

Slowly the weeks passed by calmly. Draco received no more messages from his father and he was slowly beginning to believe his ordeal was finished. That it until the 13th of February. Draco and Hermione finished patrolling and went back to their rooms.

"Good night Draco," said Hermione yawning giving him a hug.

"G'night Hermione," answered Draco returning the hug and then went into his room.

The next second he yelped and came back out his face pale, holding a letter. He immediately went to Hermione's room and knocked frantically on her door.

"Hermione," he said urgently, "Are you decent?"

Hermione straightened up hearing the panic in his voice. She quickly threw on the tiny pale pink tank top shirt and the pants and then opened the door.

"What's wrong?" she asked urgently pulling him in her room.

"My father sent me another letter," said Draco holding out the piece of parchment to Hermione.

Hermione quickly took it and scanned it.

"Draco, you've got to make your final decision tonight. Are you going to become a Death Eater?" asked Hermione.

"Hell no," said Draco emphatically.

"Then we've got to tell Dumbledore," said Hermione urgently.

"No," said Draco immediately.

"Draco, look. You can only shield yourself from him for so long. And what about the summer vacations? Where will you go then? You need protection and Dumbledore can give you that. I can only help you so much," pleaded Hermione.

Draco sighed and shuffled his feet. "Fine," he relented.

Hermione grabbed Draco and the letter and the two ran to Dumbledore's office.

"Acid pops," panted Hermione.

Immediately, the gargoyle sprang away revealing the stairs to Dumbledore's room. The two jogged up the steps. As she got to the landing, Hermione knocked three times and waited trying to control her breath.

"Come in,' said the voice of Dumbledore.

Hermione gently opened the door and walked inside with Draco at her side. Dumbledore looked from his desk and waved his wand. Immediately, two stuffed armchairs appeared in front of his desk. Hermione tiptoed across the wooden floor and shivered. Silently, she and Draco took a seat in front of the wise old man. Hermione drew her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Yes Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy," said the headmaster putting down his quill, "What is that you need to speak to me about?"

Hermione slid the letter to the headmaster who unfolded and read it.

"I see Mr. Malfoy," said the headmaster solemnly, "I am very happy that you decided to come to me. I deduce that this is the reason the two of you were gravely injured after the Hogsmeade trip."

Hermione nodded, as did Draco.

"Very well," said the headmaster standing up, "Draco, come here my boy. We need to make arrangements for you."

Draco stood up and followed the headmaster to a corner of his room. Hermione leaned her head against the soft leather and soon she had fallen asleep. Thirty minutes later, Draco and the headmaster returned and chuckled when they saw Hermione. Draco smiled softly when he saw her. She looked so peaceful and so petite lying on the soft leather sofa. A surge of an unexplainable attraction ran through him. He had never felt it before.

"Should I wake her?" asked Dumbledore.

"No," whispered Draco, 'I have something I have to do. I'll be back in 10 minutes."

And with a swish of his robes, he was gone. Dumbledore took his seat behind his desk and waited for Draco to return. True to his word, in less than 10 minutes Draco re-entered the room. Gently, he picked up Hermione, said good night to the headmaster, and left the room. His eyes twinkling, Dumbledore went back to work with a small smile on his face.

Draco carefully carried Hermione back to their rooms and after saying the password, carried her to her bed. Hermione stirred and opened her eyes as he entered her room.

"Draco," she said sleepily as he put her down. "What happened?"

"Everything's fine now," he said. "I told Dumbledore everything. He took care of everything."

Hermione's face broke into a radiant smile.

"Oh and I have a surprise for you,' said Draco.

"What is it?" asked Hermione her sleepiness falling away as she bounced on the bed.

Draco pulled back the sleeve of his robe and Hermione gasped; the scars from his knife cuts had vanished.

"Oh Draco,' said Hermione awestruck placing an hand on his arm, "You're perfectly over the cutting now. Oh Draco."

Hermione threw her arms around Draco and hugged him tight. Draco wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.

"Oh Draco," sighed Hermione as she drew back, "I'm so happy. I could dance!"

Draco laughed as he pulled his sleeve back down. Hermione quickly reached up and kissed his cheek and then went back under the covers. Hermione nestled under the covers as Draco tucked them firmly around her.

"Goodnight,' whispered Draco as he left the room.

As he loosened his tie with one hand he reached up and touched his cheek with his other hand. He glanced towards Hermione's room as his mind began to wander. He couldn't deny it anymore. He remembered the way he felt in Potions class as he worked with Hermione. He remembered the Quidditch match and how that hug had sent shivers down his spine. Christmas flashed through his mind as he remembered his quick feelings of kissing her. He remembered the moment when he nearly kissed her on the sofa. He remembered the way her smiles sent tingles down his body, the way her hugs made him feel special, and the way her tears made him melt. He knew what that exotic feeling was tonight. It was love.

It was too hard to deny it after tonight.

He was in love with Hermione Granger.

. & .

The next morning Hermione woke up and smiled happily remembering last night's events. She climbed out of bed and looked around the rooms but Draco was nowhere to be seen. Remembering that it was Valentine's Day, she quickly took out her ruby red long-sleeved shirt and a flowing white skirt and a pair of corkscrew shoes. Even though no one had asked her she decided to go and check out the Valentine's dance. As she showered, a figure slipped into her room and left her flowers and a note on her desk. As Hermione got out, the figure slipped out and ran to the dance in the Great Hall.

Content, Hermione towel dried her hair and entered her room when she caught sight of the articles sitting on her desk. Curious Hermione threw her towel on her desk and picked up the flowers. Inhaling deeply, Hermione closed her eyes as the sweet smell of roses overtook her. She then picked up the card and flicked it open.

_My Dearest Hermione,_

_I really have no idea where to start. Should I start with how you mean to me? Or how much you've helped me? I guess I'll just start with Thank You. Thank you Hermione. Over the past 3 months you've brought so much meaning to my life. You've brought back the color and happiness back to my life. For the first time, I met someone who truly cared about how I felt and how I was doing. Slowly, as the months passed I opened my arms to accept you as my friend. But in the weeks after that, I took you into my heart too._

_I never thought I would ever say this to someone and if someone had said I would be saying it to you last year, I would have laughed. But the feelings are too hard to ignore. I love you Hermione Granger. You may think that how can a hard man like me ever learn to love. With parents like mine, I would not blame you for thinking such. But I just want you to know that I love you with every fiber and piece of my body. _

_You've given me back my life. You cared enough to find out what was troubling me and when you found out you tried helping me even as I pushed you away. You were the only one who tried to get to know the real me and not the fake façade I showed the world for 7 long years. You risked your life for me and slowly accepted me as a part of your life. You made time for me whenever I needed it and your faith never wavered. _

_Even as I write this letter, I hope that maybe in spite of everything I have done for the past 6 years you could return my feelings. I'm at the dance right now and if you're there in 30 minutes after you finish showering, I will know your answer. If you're not, I will know how you feel._

_Even if you don't reciprocate my feelings, I want you to know that you mean the world for me. You are my world and my everything. I love you Hermione Granger._

_All my love, Draco_

Hermione looked up as she finished reading the card. Tears were flowing freely down her face as she took in what the card said. She couldn't believe it. Draco loved HER. And as she stared at the wall opposite her, her mind took her back to the months they knew each other. She remembered the way she would fall when she looked into his eyes. She remembered the euphoria she felt when Draco won the Quidditch match. She remembered how right it felt nestled in his strong arms, as if nothing could go wrong. She remembered the way she felt when he was at death's door after their narrow escape from Lucius. She remembered the tingle his touch and smiles and kisses on her cheek shot down her spine. She remembered the way he stood up for her in the Great Hall after Ron trashed her.

And she knew her answer.

Glancing at her clock, she gasped as she realized that she only had 10 minutes left. Immediately, she sprang up and placed the card on her desk and ran to the bathroom. She quickly changed into her clothes and tied her shoes. She ran not worrying about the way she looked.

Leaving her room, Hermione ran to the Great Hall as fast as her feet would carry her. She flung open the door and saw that she was late by 15 seconds. She urgently searched the room looking for Draco across the floor. And then she saw him; he was staring at the floor dejected his head hanging. He stared around the room with hope in his eyes but when it hit him that Hermione wasn't in the room, he turned away. His heart was crushed and his body filling with the hollow feeling of rejection. Hermione ran forward.

"Draco," screamed Hermione running towards him causing people to stare at her.

"Draco!' yelled Hermione.

Draco paused in his footsteps; was it him or did he hear his name? He turned around and saw her running towards him. Her hair flying behind her and her face breaking into a megawatt smile was Hermione. Her face was devoid of make-up and her hair was wet and curly. His body surged with happiness when he realized she must have run here. Draco's face broke into a smile that lit his face and held out his arms. The next second Hermione was in arms and was hugging him tightly. Draco closed his eyes as he clutched his precious bundle to him. People on the dance floor stopped as they saw former archenemies embrace.

"I love you Draco," whispered Hermione. "I love you."

Those three words warmed Draco to his core. Hermione pulled away her arms still round his neck. Draco looked deep into her eyes and he slowly leaned down. Draco slowly lowered his face to Hermione's and softly placed his lips on hers. . All action in the hall stopped as they saw Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger kiss. Hermione's eyelids fluttered closed when she felt Draco's lips upon hers. She felt as if fireworks were erupting throughout her body. For a while no one spoke in the Great Hall. Hermione tangled her hands in Draco's hair as she responded. Slowly, they broke apart and looked around smiling sheepishly as the Great Hall applauded. Draco then kissed Hermione again as happiness took over every fiber of his being.

A few minutes later, Draco held his hand out to Hermione and led her to the dance floor. Hermione wrapped her hands around his neck and he pulled her close to him.

"I asked the people to play this Muggle song," whispered Draco, "It says everything I want to tell you."

Hermione listened carefully as the first notes of the song started.

_I love you... I love you... I love you_

_Baby I love you  
You are my life  
My happiest moments weren't complete  
If you weren't by my side  
You're my relation  
In connection to the sun  
With you next to me  
There's no darkness I can't overcome  
You are my raindrop  
I am the seed  
With you and God, who's my sunlight  
I bloom and grow so beautifully  
Baby, I'm so proud  
So proud to be your girl  
You make the confusion  
Go all away  
From this cold and mixed up world_

_I am in love with you  
You set me free  
I can't do this thing  
Called life without you here with me  
Cause I'm Dangerously In Love with you  
I'll never leave  
Just keep lovin' me  
The way I love you loving me_

_And I know you love me  
Love me for who I am  
Cause years before I became who I am  
Baby you were my man  
I know it ain't easy  
Easy loving me  
I appreciate the love and dedication  
From you to me  
Later on in my destiny  
I see myself having your child  
I see myself being your wife  
And I see my whole future in your eyes  
Thought of all my love for you  
sometimes make me wanna cry  
Realize all my blessings  
I'm grateful  
To have you by my side_

_Every time I see your face   
My heart smiles  
Every time it feels so good  
It hurts sometimes  
Created in this world  
To love and to hold  
To feel  
To breathe  
To love you_

_Dangerously in love  
Can't do this thing  
I love you , I love you, I love you  
I'll never leave  
Just keep on loving me  
I'm in love with you  
I can not do  
I cannot do anything without you in my life  
Holding me, kissing me, loving me  
Dangerously  
I love you  
Dangerously in love_

By the time the song was done, Hermione was in tears.

"Oh Draco," she said as she buried her face in his shoulder. Feeling tears prick his own eyes, Draco caressed her back.

"The only thing that was wrong was that I'm not your girl and everything pertaining to that," joked Draco causing Hermione to laugh tearfully.

"I love you Draco," whispered Hermione as she laid her head on his shoulder.

Smiling, Hermione looked around the hall as she clutched Draco close to her. She smiled happily as she saw Harry and Ginny on the dance floor together. She closed her eyes and sighed as the feeling of happiness overtook her body. She had found her love and no one could take him away from her.

And that was all she needed.

* * *

****_A/N: This is the end! I cried so hard; I loved each and every one of you. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it. Thanks for sticking with my story! If you came after I wrote it and finished please review anyways!here may be a sequel but chance are there will not be. Kisses and hugs to everyone who reviewed. _

_Love Always,_

_Anjali Potter  
_

_Dangerously in Love_ by Beyonce Knowles


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